Our Lives Are Strange
by Bl4ckHunter
Summary: A chance meeting with our old childhood friends turns into an impossible adventure. But in order to help them, me and my brother have to face our own personal problems which haunt us. My name's Abby Powell and this is my story. AU: The main plot in general is preserved with some alterations, adding my side story. Rated M for language, violence, sex, suggestive and PTSD themes etc.
1. Prologue

**_Prologue_**

* * *

 _Where am I?_

I felt the cold in the air and when I opened my eyes, I was outside, in the woods, the storm raging on… the trees shaking, leaves and branches falling… icy raindrops hitting my skin, head to toe… I was on the edge of the cliff. There was a doe, I followed it to the lighthouse and I decided to go there to hide from the storm.

When I looked at the sea, I saw a big-ass tornado coming my way. I picked up a bigger tempo to hide from the storm when suddenly I heard crackling… and a broken part of lighthouse was falling on my head, I screamed in panic and covered my head…

* * *

"Aah!" I woke up on the bench in the swimming pool in Blackwell Academy. Next to me was my best friend and roommate, Christine "Chris" Masters, worried about me.

"Are you OK, Abs?"

"Wha-" I gasped. "What the…"

"You passed out for a few minutes and your face was twitching. It looked like you had a really scary nightmare."

"I'm fine, Chris. Really." I shook my head to wake up.

She smacked me on my face. "C'mon, nap time is over, it's gonna be our turn in a minute."

Soon enough the Personal Health Teacher Edwards called me and Christine and had his watch in hands to measure our lap time.

"Alright, Abigail, Christine, you're up. Four laps of crawl to the length of the pool. Chop, chop!" He pointed to the pool.

Christine and I started swimming from one end of the pool to another, I kept counting how long can I hold my breath underwater after every refill of oxygen in my lungs. I watched out not to exert myself too much so I could keep up with Christine. It seemed good but then my leg got entangled in a loose safety rope underwater and in panic I left out of my mouth the gathered air. I cramped around trying to free myself but it was pointless.

Then I saw a blurry image of someone underwater trying to untie my leg. The fear inside me unfortunately exhausted the remaining oxygen in my lungs and they were slowly filling with water and everything was slowly going black.

* * *

 _I was again on the edge of the cliff but this time… right next to me was someone else. I heard a female scream next to me. "No!" I couldn't make out who it was exactly because the rain made her look hazy but I know I saw her before. She was smaller than me, she had brown hair... but then the tornado came towards us and I felt painful pressure on my chest_.

* * *

When I woke up, I spitted out a fountain of water and the pain on my chest was real. I coughed out more water and tried to catch my breath and around me were other girls and Coach Edwards. They all looked at me with concern. I guess I got CPR-ed.

"Are you alright, Abigail?" Coach asked me.

I raised my hand to indicate that I need a minute to catch my breath and I inhaled loudly the fresh air.

Christine gave me a towel around my arms and accompanied me to the stretcher where I sat down.

Edwards grabbed the whistle and blew it strongly and all the girls covered their ears. "Alright, we're cancelling the training today! Christine, you take Abigail to the nurse, the rest of you, girls, to the showers!" He clapped his hands.

"You scared the shit out of us, Abby. I thought you were not going to make it." Christine wrapped her hands around me.

"What happened?" I tried to recover from the shock while I was shaking from the cold.

Edwards came to us with an apologetic look. "I'm so sorry, Abigail. I will check the safety ropes next time. This should not have happened."

"It's… *cough*… it's not your fault, Coach." I shook my head and tried to smile. I like Coach Edwards, he's one of the nicest teachers here. "I'll be fine."

"Are you sure? I think you should let the nurse check…"

"OK. If you insist. Just… not now. I… I'm still in shock to be honest." I managed to utter out.

"Of course. I understand. Just… promise me that you will let someone examine you _today_. I will write a written excuse for you for the rest of the day. You should take a rest."

I just nodded, not wanting to talk about it. Edwards went to the pool control room probably to call maintenance.

"C'mon, let's hit the shower and get the fuck out of here."

Christine and I took our towels and went to the showers, stripping our swimsuits and I let the hot, steamy water run down my bare skin, trying to forget what just happened.

I'm sure some of the girls were looking at me while changing their clothes. I heard Allison screaming. "Hey, that's not funny, Jane! Give me back my shirt!"

"Come get it!" Jane shouted and ran to the corner of the locker room, almost near the exit. I turned around to see Allie chase Jane with one hand stretched out and with the other she was covering her breasts.

"Hey!" Jane yelled when Sarah snatched the shirt from her hands and handed it back to Allie.

"Do you really think this is the best time to screw around?" She glanced to the showers, probably looking at me. I quickly turned to the wall, covering my face.

"Oh." Jane uttered.

I could feel that everyone was looking at me right now. I turned off the water and wiped myself with the towel, wrapping it around my body. I tried to act as normally as possible, not letting the drowning affect me but everyone was looking at me with such pity.

"Abby…" Sarah came to me when I opened my locker.

"I'm gonna be alright, Sarah." I wiped my eyes. "I… just need some sleep."

"Good idea."

When we dressed up, Christine combed her hair and asked me. "You sure you don't need to go to the infirmary now, Abs?"

"I'll be fine. Really." I smiled at Christine while putting on my top. "I just… need to take a nap."

"If you say so. But Ron's gonna freak out when he hears about this." She shrugged her shoulders.

 _My over-protective big brother who works here at my school as a security guard. He just wants to look after me after what happened with Rachel Amber and Christine's twin sister Cassie._

 _I liked Rachel. She was beautiful, smart, popular, nice to everyone around here but… kinda secretive if you ask me. One day, she vanished out of the blue. She was also a good friend with my and Ronald's childhood friend, Chloe Price. We have known her for years together with another childhood friend of ours, Maxine "Max" Caulfield_ _. I have not seen her in years, not since Chloe's Dad had passed but I heard she came back to Arcadia Bay and is attending here currently. I wanted to approach her and catch up with her but… I don't know… I just did not know what to say._

 _We did talk once about catching up and I asked her if she talked to Chloe yet but Max just replied that she needs to do this on her own. She does miss her and I wanted to arrange a reunion but… Max did not "want to push things", in her own words._

 _And Cassie… Nathan tried to hit on Cassie at one party, offering her a drink, but when she rejected him, Nathan freaked out and he hit her, badly. We could not do anything about him since his father would make our lives a living hell._

 _Christine was also bullied by some of those snobs because of her resemblance with Cassie, Cassie then dropped out and decided to home-study instead.._

 _Because of what happened to Rachel and Cassie, Ronald took a job as a guard here to look after me because he did not trust those elitist assholes at Vortex Club, not since the very beginning._

 _Few years back, Ronnie spent six months in juvie for attacking some random drunk cretin who tried to hit on me in a bar and almost raped me in the alley, also stabbing my boyfriend who ended up in hospital, recovering for months. Jesus, that was fucking freaky how my brother beated the shit out of him._

 _At least he didn't kill the drunk but he had some problems finding a job because of an assault record._

 _Luckily they accepted him as a security guard here to keep an eye on me and other students here._

 _But since that accident… I actually avoided Chloe because since William and Max leaving her… she became a troublemaker, having problems with cops and from what I heard, she was also smoking weed and got into some serious debts. I feel guilty about it but… I don't wanna go down with her because she keeps falling into deeper and deeper shit._

I left the pool and went to my locker in the main building to take my books to study for the next day in my dorm and I packed my stuff in my backpack.

But when I went down the hall, I could not avoid some of the students looking at me with… curiosity, fear and concern. I heard whispering… everyone looking at me… I guess word travels fast around here about my drowning accident.

When I went around the photography class, I saw Kate… depressed, staring at the desk. Poor girl.

 _Lately she was being harassed by others because of a viral video on which she was drunk at the last Vortex Party making up with other boys. That was a gross view. I was there and I'm sure she could not get that much drunk. She had just a few sips of wine and that is not enough to get drunk._

 _But… what the fuck really happened if she was not drunk? Right now she was being harassed by other students because there was a video of her making out with others on that party. Max, Ronnie and I have been trying to cheer her up because she does not deserve to be humiliated that much. It's not like her the way she acted back there._

 _But somebody really needs to have a talk with Victoria "Bitchtoria" Chase. I really hate those snob fuckers from the Vortex Club. And it was her who recorded the video. She deserves a bitch-slap._

 _My brother is nice to everyone, not like his boss, the paranoid prick, David Madsen. I really hate this guy. He treats almost everyone around here like a suspect, he thinks he's some kind of a super-cop. What a dick. I hate that guy._

 _Ronald blames himself for what happened to her. He knows she is nice but he thinks he should have kept a better eye on her, considering her getting drunk on the last Vortex Club party and kissing some random strangers._

While walking down the lockers corridor, I saw the cheerleader Dana talk with the skater boy Justin, Brooke playing with her cellphone and the football player Logan together with some other student pick up on Daniel, a fat student from Jefferson's art class. They all glanced at me for a few seconds, some of them asking me about my well-being, then minded their own businesses again once I calmed them all down.

And it was hard to overlook the "Rachel Amber Missing" posters on the walls which I'm 100 % sure Chloe put up. From what I heard, Rachel and Chloe were thick as thieves.

I passed by the school journalist Juliet and another football player Zach. Juliet then went my way. "Hey, Abby."

"Hi, Jules." I smiled.

Juliet tried to be tactful and asked me carefully. "Rumor has it that you just… almost drowned in Edwards's swimming class. Is it…"

"Yeah. I feel dizzy, but I'm good, really." I sighed. "I'm glad I'm done for today, I just…wanna get back to my bed."

"Can't say I blame you." Juliet shrugged her shoulders. "Look, if you need to talk to somebody…"

"Thanks, Juliet. I appreciate it."

I was on my way to the exit when I saw Max wearing headphones go to the bathroom and we talked for a moment as I stopped her. We've been trying to catch up since she returned from Seattle but I did not intend to bring up Chloe because it was up to Max, not me, for those two to catch up.

"Max."

Max put down her headphones. "Hi, Abby. I heard what happened at the swimming pool." Max put her hand on my shoulder. "Are you OK?"

"I'll be fine, Max. I just… need some rest." I adjusted my hair. "How was the class?"

Max waited for about 5 seconds. "Shitty. I… zoned out for a moment and Jefferson reamed me because I was... unconcentrated. And he wants me to put an entry into " _Everyday Heroes_ " contest. But I don't know if…"

"Max. You can do this. You're a good photographer. I believe in you. I'm sure your picture is gonna be nice."

"Thanks, Abby. I appreciate that you believe in me." _I was considering bringing up Chloe but… no. I'm not gonna force Max to confront her._

She then went into the bathroom and I went to the fountain to get some drink. Shitty idea considering I just had water inside my lungs but… I was really thirsty after I was out in the pool. But then a thought hit me… _that girl in my dream… could it have been…_

My line of thoughts were interrupted when someone called me from behind. "Abigail. Abigail, wait!"

I turned around to see my brother in his guard's uniform who had a terrified look on his face and he hugged me. "I'm so glad you're OK." He sighed with relief.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me, Ron."

"I'm your big brother. It's in my line of work to worry about you. I don't want you to end up like Rachel, Cassie or Kate. Did you go see the nurse?"

"I said I'm fine. I just… need to get some sleep right now, OK?" I calmed him down and sighed in frustration. Sometimes his overprotective complex drives me nuts. But during our conversation I glanced behind him and saw a girl in punk outfit and blue hair and beanie enter the girl's bathroom. She looked familiar. _What the fuck?_ I widened my eyes. _I wonder if it was…_

"What's going on, Abs?" Ron turned around and looked behind him interrupting my thoughts.

"I... nothing. I thought I saw… never mind." I waved my hand dismissively.

"What about you and Max?" My brother asked me about meeting my childhood friend.

"We're good. I'm glad I talked to her again."

"What about her and Chloe?" Ronald crossed his arms, his face twitching right now and I don't blame him. Behind him was the school first-class asshole, Nathan _motherfucking_ Prescott, rich kid selling nasty shit to other students from what I heard, talking to himself, walking down the hall.

Ronald hates him, he knows Nathan is practically untouchable and the second he would say a bad word about that prick, Nathan's daddy would bring down the wrath of God in form of lawsuits for harassing him.

"I… I did not want to force her to talk with her. I mean… you know how shy Max can be. And to be honest, it's been a few months since I talked to her too. I… it just seemed like a bad idea."

Ron nodded. We remembered playing hide and seek in the garden in Price house few years back with Chloe and Max.

But then I heard a loud "BANG!" from the corner and yelped from getting startled by it.

"What the hell?" Ronald turned around to follow the source of the sound, it came from the girl's bathroom, I ran ahead of Ronald and opened the door when suddenly everything went slow-motion… I saw Max on the other end of the bathroom raising her hand, right next to the door was Nathan with… a gun? _What the fuck?_ And next to me was that punk girl I saw earlier. _Is that…_

Before I could finish my line of thought, everything stopped suddenly it was like the time froze totally for a few seconds and someone pressed the rewind button. Everything I just saw went backwards and when it stopped, it was a total _déja vu_ moment.

* * *

I was back at the pool, lying on the floor wearing my swimsuit, again feeling the pain on my chest and coughing out water with everyone from the swimming class looking at me with fear.

 _What the fuck just happened?_


	2. Episode 1: Chrysalis - Part 1

_**Episode 1: Chrysalis - Chapter 1**_

I was again cramping around on the floor. _How?_

"Are you alright, Abigail?" Coach asked me.

I… felt nauseus and vomitted out a little. And right now I had a fucking migraine.

Again, I felt a towel around my arms. Christine helped me get up. "C'mon. Let's sit down for a moment." Again she accompanied me to the stretcher. _Was I dreaming? This just happened not an hour ago. Is this some "Groundhog Day" shit?_

I again covered my ears as Coach Edwards grabbed the whistle and blew it strongly. "Alright, we're cancelling the training today! Christine, you take Abigail to the nurse, the rest of you, girls, to the showers!" He clapped his hands again.

"You scared the shit out of us, Abby. I thought you were not going to make it." Christine wrapped her hands around me, yet again.

This time I was lost for words. It's like I'm reliving this all over again. I just frantically looked around, hoping it was just a dream.

Again, Edwards apologized to me when he approached me and Christine. "I'm so sorry, Abigail. I will check the safety ropes next time. This should not have happened."

I must have been still shocked, wondering if this is a déja vu. "I…" I was shaking again from the cold.

"I think you should let the nurse check up on you, just in case, Abby."

"I… I'm still in shock, to be honest." I blurted out once I recovered.

"Of course. I understand. Just… promise me that you will let someone examine you _today_. I will write a written excuse for you for the rest of the day. You should take a rest."

 _That's what he just told me an hour ago._

"C'mon, let's hit the shower and get the fuck out of here." Christine took my hand again and took me to the shower room yet again.

 _I must be going crazy._

I followed Christine to the showers and undressed my swimsuit, again, but this time, I was totally freaked out, not because of the drowning but because of what happened in the next 30 seconds.

The rest of the girls in the locker room were again staring at me while changing their clothes. And again I heard Allison screaming while chasing Jane half-naked. "Hey, that's not funny, Jane! Give me back my shirt!"

"Come get it!" Jane was again heading towards the exit.

"Hey!" Again Sarah took the shirt out of Jane's hand.

"Do you really think this is the best time to screw around?" Sarah pointed at my direction again.

"Oh." Jane uttered again.

 _Wow, total déja vu._ And I just realized that this entire time I have been breathing rapidly, totally freaked out. I was stepping back, the panic and disbelief of this moment _really_ repeating itself taking over my body and I pinned my back to the wall, catching my breath. I tried not to totally freak out but Chris came to me, holding my right arm.

"Abby. Abby! Are you OK?"

"I… this isn't happening. This is not fucking happening." I slowly sat down and felt the cold tiles on the wall while doing so, while covering my face with my hands. I felt painful pressure on my chest again and I could barely take a breath, my heartbeat increasingly getting faster and faster and catching my breath in irregular intervals.

The girls were now looking at me with concern right now.

"Hey, Abby! Breathe. Breathe!" Chris took my hand and squeezed it, trying to calm me down. "It's gonna be fine, you hear me?" I tried to take a deep breath to steady my heartbeat.

Then I realized something when I calmed down. _The gunshot in the girl's bathroom. Nathan. Oh God, if this is real and I don't do something, that girl's gonna die!_

"I need to get out of here." I got up and grabbed my towel, drying myself in a hurry and tried to open my locker, my hands were shaking, so I could not put in the lock code properly.

"Abby, take it easy! I know that you must be stressed right now…" Allie was whispering next to me with concern.

"Damn betcha I'm fucking stressed, Allie!" I blurted out before I realized I was yelling at her. She was visibly taken aback by it and widened her eyes. Everyone was staring at me now.

"I'm sorry. I did not mean to yell at you. I…" I rubbed my hair. _Nobody is gonna believe me if I tell them._ "I… I just need to get out of here, like _right now._ " I stuttered out.

"You _really_ should go see the nurse, Abby." Jane put her hand on my shoulder. "You can't be fine."

I sighed. "Fine. But…just let me take my stuff from my locker first." _I hope I'm not too late. I need to the girl's bathroom to the main building and stop Nathan before he shoots that girl._

I walked fast from the pool into the main building, entering the main door _._ I tried not to look like I was running and having a panic attack. I walked by the lockers corridor.

And again there was the déja vu. Dana and Justin chatting together, Brooke playing with her cellphone and Logan was picking on Daniel again.

This time everyone was staring at me for more than just a few seconds, probably thinking that the pool incident must have taken quite a toll on me, since right now I was more panicked, trying to save the girl.

Again, I passed by Juliet and Zachary. "Hey, Abby. Are you-"

"Not now, Jules." I busted into the bathroom faking vomitting sounds in case someone was wondering what am I doing. Luckily, no Nathan Prescott, no punk girl around. _Phew, maybe I can…_

But someone else rushed into the bathroom a few seconds after me. It was Max.

"Abby? What are you doing here?"

I was freaked out by seeing her here. _Shit, if Nathan finds her here, she's gonna die too. Think, Abby, think!_

"I… I was not feeling well, Max." I let out a fake vomiting sound and put a hand on my head, faking a headache.

"Yeah, I heard about what happened at the swimming pool. Are you OK?"

"I just need a minute here."

Max panically looked around and then she pushed me to the toilet stall and whispered.

"Max, what th-"

"Stay there and be quiet, Abby. Please!" Max looked at me with such concern and panic.

"What's going on, Max?" _If this last hour has been repeating itself and Max was really in the bathroom when the gunshot happened, then she probably saw what happened. But why would she be panicked right now? There's no way she could know what was happening, unless..._

Max shushed me and closed the door on me.

I peeked at what was Max doing. She washed her face, then she ripped her photograph and she hid in the corner of the bathroom.

I was about to ask Max again when I heard the door to the bathroom open again. It was that asshole Nathan Prescott, leaning to the sink, talking to himself.

"It's cool, Nathan. Don't stress out, you're the boss…" _Man, he's really unstable._ Then I realized there was a reflection of me in the mirror. _Fuck! If he sees me, I'm dead! That guy is really freaking unpredictable._

I closed the door quietly and just listened. Then I heard the entrance to the bathroom open again and I heard a second voice, I peeked and looked in the mirror and it was that punk girl I saw earlier going into the bathroom when I talked with my brother. She seemed familiar, but I could not place her.

"I hope you checked the perimeter, as my step-ass would say," said the punk. "Now, let's talk bidness."

"I got nothing for you." Nathan replied disgusted.

"Wrong." The girl retorted. "You got hella cash."

"That's my family, not me." Nathan continued to show his back to the girl.

"Oh boo hoo, poor little rich kid. I know you've been pumpin' drugs and shit to kids around here." The girl slowly approached the sink next to Nathan glared him right into his eyes. _What the fuck? Is she really trying to extort Nathan Prescott of all the people? Is she suicidal or what?_

"I bet your respectable family would help me out if I went to them. Man, I can see the headlines now-"

"Leave them out of this, bitch." Nathan clenched his teeth angrily. _Oh, oh, this is not gonna end well. I would not provoke him further._ But the girl kept pushing him.

"I can tell everybody that Nathan Prescott is a punk ass who begs like a little girl and talks to himself-"

Suddenly Nathan stood up and shoved the girl against the door of the bathroom and pulled out a gun from his pants, pointing it right at her face. Her expression changed from angered to pure horror. This was going south very quickly.

"You don't know who the fuck I am or who you're messing around with!"

"Where'd you get that? What you doing? Come on, put that thing down!" The punk girl panicked. When Nathan pushed her to the wall, he and the girl were both out of my line of sight.

"Don't ever tell me what to do! I'm so sick of people trying to control me!"

"You are going to get into hella more trouble for this than drugs…"

"Nobody would ever even miss your punk ass, would they?" I covered my mouth in horror when I peeked again, I saw Nathan pinning her to the wall with the gun.

"Get that gun away from me, psycho!" The girl panicked and I heard a gunshot which startled me. I opened the door and saw the girl bleeding from the abdomen and Nathan in panic ripping his hair.

* * *

 _Oh, God, no!_

 _But then I again had the feeling like I was drowning again, feeling weak and cold, like if I was walking through the storm bare naked and feel the chill and the time reversed itself again for a few moments. And again there was another déja vu moment._

* * *

"You don't know who the fuck I am or who you're messing around with!" I heard Nathan yell again. _What the fuck? What's going on? I just saw him freak out like 30 seconds ago._

"Where'd you get that? What you doing? Come on, put that thing down!" _The same reaction..._

"Don't ever tell me what to do! I'm so sick of people trying to control me!"

"You are going to get into hella more trouble for this than drugs…"

"Nobody would ever even miss your punk ass, would they?"

But instead of the girl panicking this time I heard a fire alarm go off and I saw Nathan falling on the ground.

"Don't ever touch me again, freak!" I heard the door open. That girl probably ran away.

Nathan got up on his feet and ran out of the bathroom. "Another shitty day." He muttered.

I opened the door and got out of the cabin. I looked behind at Max, whose forehead was now totally sweating with stress and her expression was full of stress and horror. Then I remembered that in the corner of the bathroom is an emergency fire alarm button.

"Did you do that, Max?" I asked her, realizing that she must have set it off.

"Yeah." She sighed.

"How did you know to do that?" I was amazed.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, Abby." Max uttered out.

I had some questions for Max but then I realized something. "Let's get out of here before they realize this is a false alarm."

Max just nodded but when I opened the door, the security chief guard David Madsen caught us both.

"Hey, did you two hear that fire alarm? That means you should be outside!" Madsen approached us with anger and annoyance written on his face.

I quickly tried to think of an excuse. "I'm sorry, Mr. Madsen. I was just sick."

But Madsen just snorted. "Right. Girls always use that excuse." _Aw, c'mon! Really? I really hate that paranoid asshole!_

"Excuse for what?" Max stepped back with fear.

"For whatever you two are up to." He looked in turns at me and Max. "Both your faces are covered in guilt. What have you two been up to, young ladies? Huh?" His face was grinning with hint of increasing annoyance and when he kept coming towards us.

"She's not lying, I was just helping her in the bathroom."

But David would not back off. "You two look like thick as thieves. Like I'm going to believe-"

"David, leave them alone!" I heard Ron's voice from the corridor. _Oh, thank God._ I sighed with relief.

"Ronald, let me handle…"

"That's my sister and her friend you are talking to and they are not lying." Ronald clenched through his teeth. _Yeah. Show him who is he messing with, big bro._ I smiled. _One of the moments when I'm glad he's keeping an eye on me._

"You are so naive." Madsen snorted. "Just look at them." He turned his attention to us again. "They are obviously hiding…."

"My little sister just almost drowned in the swimming pool. Can you blame her for being so nervous right now?" Ronald stepped up to him.

That caught David off-guard as his hardened face lost it's composure. He glared at us again, examining us. Luckily there was no need for me to fake sickness, I still felt little faint after drowning and seeing Nathan about to kill someone really freaked me out.

For about three seconds it seemed like he would not believe us and he examined me head to toe. I was trembled and nervous. Luckily David's face softened.

"Thank you, Mr. Madsen." I heard a voice from down the corridor. I sighed in relief to see the school principal, Ray Wells, looking across at us. "This situation is under control. There's no emergency here. Leave Misses Powell and Caulfield alone and please turn off that alarm, since that's your job."

The chief security guard still snorted from looking at us but he then turned his expression into a more sincere one with an understanding. "I apologize for my previous behavior. I hadn't realized that you were the one injured in Mr. Edwards's swimming lessons." Then he looked alternately at me and Max.

"But you need to listen to the emergency regulations around here. It would be dangerous to stay somewhere when the fire alarm goes off." He put his hand on my shoulder. _Wow. That might be actually the first time he was not a total dick to someone._ Then he left us alone.

"Thank you." I looked both at my brother and the Principal. They threw at me those sorry looks I just saw from everyone when I walked down the hall after I almost drowned.

"I heard about the incident in the swimming pool. Are you alright, Abigail?" Ronald laid his arms on my shoulders.

I realized I was still freaked out from seeing Nathan with the gun. "Yeah, I'm… I'm fine now, really." I exhaled. "I… I just felt a little dizzy after… y'know." I glanced at Max. "Max helped me in the bathroom."

Ron then smiled at Max. "Thank you, Max. I'm glad you look out for my sister."

Max was unfortunately just as nervous as I was and it did not go unnoticed. "You seem a little agitated too, Miss Caulfield. Are you alright?" Wells asked Max.

 _Here it comes. Should we tell him the truth?_ I looked at Max.

Max took a breath and blurted out quickly. "Nathan Prescott. He was in the girl's bathroom talking to himself with a gun. We saw everything! He was babbling like crazy!"

I just nodded.

"What?" Ron shouted out. "Nathan Prescott? Are you sure?"

"Yeah." I said upset. "He was waving that thing around ready to shoot something. I almost thought he was gonna kill us if he found us in there."

"That little punk… When I get my hands on him…" Ron clenched his teeth and squeezed his hands in fists.

"OK, everybody calm down. This isn't a race. So you two are saying you saw all this… without him seeing you?" Wells raised his hands. I smelled booze from them.

 _What? Are you kidding me?_

"I… Abby was in the cabin, feeling sick, peeking from the door and I was behind the stall, looking for broom if I had to clean the mess. That's when Nathan came in, babbling like a crazy guy. There was nothing we could do but stay hidden." Max blurted out.

"I'm just glad he did not find us both in there. We probably would be dead if he did." I backed her up.

"I understand, girls. I just want to be completely clear about what happened. It's just that Nathan Prescott happens to be from Arcadia Bay's most distinguished family, a family that has contributed a significant amount of money to Blackwell in the past, and moving forward as well.

And, he's one of Blackwell's most honoured students. So forgive me, but it's hard to see him brandishing a weapon in the girls' bathroom. Why would he even go into the girls' bathroom?"

"But sir…" Max let out.

"So what happened after you thought you saw him? What did he do next?"

 _This is pointless. This drunk jackass won't believe us. Or more likely the Prescott's are gonna pay him off to sit on his ass and do nothing._

"When the fire alarm went off, Nathan left the bathroom. And so did we." I finished the story.

"Girls, this is a serious charge, a very serious charge indeed. I shall look into the matter personally. Thank you for bringing it to my attention."

"That's it? After we told you he had a gun?"

"Sir, maybe we should call the pol…" Ron tried to advise.

"Miss Caulfield, Miss Powell, Mr. Powell, that will be all. I said I'll look into the matter and that's exactly what I'll do. Please leave the building with the rest of your class now, Max, and Abigail, I recommend you to go see the nurse and go rest for the remainder of the day. And Ronald, go back to your duty, please."

 _Oh, you have gotta be kidding me! After that stress I was just put through today! Damn it!_

 _But then I felt the breeze again and time rewound itself again._

* * *

 ** _oOo_**

"… _He was in the bathroom talking to himself with a gun. We saw everything! He was babbling like crazy_ …"

" _…Nathan Prescott happens to be from Arcadia Bay's most distinguished family, a family that has contributed a significant amount of money to Blackwell in the past, and moving forward as well. And, he's one of Blackwell's most honoured students…_ "

"…. _Are you sure you saw him with a gun?_ "

" _…Girls, this is a serious charge, a very serious charge indeed. I shall look into the matter personally. Thank you for bringing it to my attention…._ "

 ** _oOo_**

* * *

Wells was again looking at Max. "You seem a little agitated too, Miss Caulfield. Are you alright?" _What the… we just talked to you, you drunk idiot. What's going on?_

Max took a deep breath. "No, it's just… I was really worried about Abby. For a moment I thought she'd need to go to the hospital." She looked at me, in her eyes an imploring look.

I widened my eyes but I realized I need to play along. "Yeah… I… I guess I was not feeling as well as I thought. Max was just helping me in the bathroom." Max nodded and I coughed out and inhaled intensely for the act.

Wells and Ron smiled at me and Max. "Thank you, Max. I'm glad you are looking out for my baby sister."

"Maybe you should go see the nurse, Abigail." Wells recommended me.

After that stress I was just put through, I've lost my strength to argue.

"Yeah, I… I will let someone check me up. I promise." Wells then left and Ron gave me a hug with such a bear strength I almost could not catch my breath. But it was not as bad as the drowning.

"Thank God, you're alright, Abigail. I don't know what would I do if I lost you." Ron laughed as he sighed with relief.

"I'm fine now, Ron. But... I just wanna go to bed now, I could use some sleep." I patted him on his back. "But don't tell Mom and Dad that I almost drowned. Just tell her I had an accident in the swimming pool and I needed to have some rest."

"Of course." He patted me on my shoulder. My brother then left me and Max alone and when we left the main building, I looked at Max and took her hand. Max then looked back at me, all nervous.

"I think we need to have a serious talk about what just happened."


	3. Episode 1: Chrysalis - Part 2

_**Episode 1: Chrysalis - Chapter 2**_

I dragged Max to the fountain and we both sat down. Somehow Max had to be involved in this. I'm sure I saw her in my dream and I'm sure I saw _her_ in the bathroom before when Nathan shot that girl and I jumped back in time.

"Max. What the hell happened back there in the bathrooms?" My voice trembled but I did not care. I needed some answers.

Max looked really nervous now. "I… I don't know, Abby."

"Damn it, Maxine, don't screw with me!" Again I unintentionally raised my voice and Max flinched. I quickly covered my mouth and apologized to her. "Sorry. I'm… I'm just a little on edge. But I need some answers."

Max stared at the water and looked at her reflection. "You're gonna think I'm crazy."

I just had a crazy day just as well. "Try me."

Max took a breath and waited for a minute, looking for the right words.. "Have you ever had a dream, so real it was like a movie?"

I instantly remembered the dream I had when I drowned. "Yeah." I nodded. "Actually, I had. In the swimming pool just today."

Max flinched and she looked at me very seriously. "Talk to me, Abby."

I tried to remember the dream and looked at my reflection in the water. "It felt so real, Max. I felt asleep during the swimming class and I was… somewhere in the forest, when there was a storm." Max's brows were slowly raising in disbelief. "I felt the electricity in the air and the cold drops on my skin. I saw a doe… I followed it to some lighthouse, then a huge tornado was coming my way and the top of the lighthouse fell on my head. That's when I woke up.

And when I unconscious when I drowned, I had that same dream again but I was on the edge of the cliff where the lighthouse was… and there was someone else with me… I couldn't see her properly because of the storm… but… I think…" I looked at Max who was stepping back, shocked.

Max finished. "…it was me. I had the same dream." In her eyes was pure horror right now.

"What? How?" I hissed.

"I fell asleep today during Jefferson's class and I had just the same dream. But I didn't see anyone else there. I was alone walking down that road during the storm when top of that lighthouse fell on me too."

 _Oh my God._ "So you're saying that…" I opened my mouth slowly.

"…you and I had the same dream."

Both of us were looking at our reflections in the water. I could actually see how freaked out we had to be right now. I heard my heart pounding faster and faster and I had to hold my hands to the rock edges of the fountain to relax.

"What the fuck is going on, Max?" I let out when I sighed. "How did you know that Nathan was gonna kill that girl in the bathroom?"

"I... I don't know how to explain this, Abby. This is gonna sound crazy." Max was panicked right now.

"I think right now " _crazy_ " might be our new normal." I mumbled and Max laughed at my joke.

"I… after Jefferson's class I heard some students talking about your accident. That's when I talked to you, then I wanted to be alone in the bathroom and I saw a blue butterfly perching on a cleaning bucket. I thought that the butterfly would make a nice photo but that's when Nathan came in, he was talking to himself and… I think you know the rest."

"Some punk girl came in, wanting to extort Nathan because he was selling drugs and Nathan pulled a gun on her?"

Max nodded. "Yeah. I _actually_ saw Nathan shoot her, and when I freaked out... the time froze and… somehow I landed back in Jefferson's class reliving the last half an hour again."

I widened my eyes.

"I _mean_ it. Everything happened the same way it did before. Every word every one of the classmates uttered, every action… I was reliving the _same_ lecture all over again but then somehow... I could rewind time."

I was shocked by it. "What? What do you mean, " _rewind time_ "?"

"Somehow I can turn back time a few moments. Don't ask me how because I myself don't understand it.

Jefferson asked me a question and I didn't know the answer but Victoria did. So I rewound and told Jefferson the same answer Victoria gave and she gave me a hateful look.

And when I realized that I was reliving the day all over again, I rushed into the bathroom, trying to save that girl."

"Actually, that's what I wanted to do too."

Max gave me a confused look. "What do you mean, Abby?"

I sighed. "I remember talking to you in front of the bathroom, then my brother wanted to check on me. That girl passed by us and a minute later, we heard a gunshot. Ron and I busted into the bathroom and I saw you raising your hand. Then the time stopped… and suddenly I was back at the pool, spitting out water and trying to recover from drowning, again. Everything happened the same way it did before.

The girls in the shower were acting the same way they did before, I was reliving it all over again when they were kidding around.

I thought I was going crazy, so I got out of there quickly. That's when I realized if all this was really happening again, I had to do something to stop Nathan."

Max then looked down on the ground, contemplating. "Wowsers. This is so fucking unreal."

"You tell me." I laughed. "So you can really rewind time?"

In Max's eyes was now fear and disbelief. "I don't know _how_ or _why_ is it possible but yeah."

"How can you do that?" I wondered if I could do the same thing.

"I… I don't know exactly how but when I extend my arm and focus, I go back a few moments." Max explained.

I tried to do the same thing. I stretched my arm and tried to go back but nothing happened.

"Abby?"

"Nothing. Maybe if I focus a lot…" I tried again to go back but nothing happened. "Can you describe how do you feel when it happens?"

"I… I feel… the cold breeze, wind… and like I said, it's like I press the rewind button, everything goes back a few moments, not further and I relive it all over again."

I widened my eyes. "That's exactly the feeling I had when you did that thing. The cold wind in the air and everything going backwards."

"Holy shit." Max rubbed her hair. "But why does it not affect you? How can you remember what happened if no one else does when I do that?"

"Maybe it's because I had a near-death experience and had the same dream you had?" I speculated.

"Ugh, fuck, my head hurts. If anyone can figure this out, it might be Warren." Max shook her head.

I laughed. _Warren Graham. The cool smart geek, movies fan and obviously in love with Max. I like him._

I heard a ringtone from Max's pocket as she looked at her phone.

"C'mon, let's get back to our dorm. I borrowed Warren's flash drive and he wants it back."

I walked with Max to our dorm and I saw Alyssa on the bench reading her book and Zachary with Logan playing football. But at the doorstep to our dorm were "Bitchtoria" Chase and her two minions, Taylor and Courtney, blocking our way.

 _Great. I don't have time for those bitches. I hate them._

"Oh look" said Victoria. "it's Max Caulfield, the selfie ho of Blackwell and Abby Powell, the drowner Otter." She got up and walked around us, her eyes full of spite and contempt.

"What a lame gimmick." She snarled venomously. "Even Mr. Jefferson falls for your waif hipster bullshit. ‚The D-D-Daguerrian Process, Sir!' You could barely even say that. I guess you got your meds filled." She glanced to Taylor and Courtney and they both laughed on cue as Victoria walked around me, brushing her cashmere top as if she wanted to dust it off from the dirt.

"And you, shouldn't you go lie on the comfortable bed in the infirmary? I don't think we need you to wet the floor in our dorm by coughing out the chlorine water." She then sat back on the doorstep.

"Well, since you know all the answers, Caulfield, I guess you and your buddy'll have to find another way into the dorm. We ain't moving."

 _OK, that does it._ I've had enough of her high-muck-a-muck attitude and grabbed her by her top.

"Hey, that is an expensive cashm-"

" _Get the fuck out of our way, Victoria Chase!_ " I spat right into her face and glared her right into her eyes. " _I just almost drowned in the pool and coughed out like a bottle of water! I had to throw up my favorite sandwich in the bathroom and right now I have a fucking headache like you would not believe and I just want to go back to my bed for the rest of the day!_

 _So the last thing I need is you bitching me and my friend around, my day has been shitty enough as it is, am I fucking clear?_ " I emptied my lungs and exhaled loudly like if I had finished a marathon. _Wow. I had no idea I could rage out like that. I might be just as short-tempered as Nathan or Ronald could be. Holy shit._

This was the one moment when Victoria and her lapdogs were intimidated right now. Max poked me and pointed around the yard. Everyone was looking at us, even the mentally disordered janitor Samuel.

Victoria's arrogant expression turned into a more intimidated and apologetic one. I could see the momentary terror in her pupils.

"Fine, geez, I'm sorry, OK? Chill out, Abby." She waved her hands to Taylor and Courtney, her voice changing from her arrogant one into a more submissive. "C'mon, let them pass." They stepped aside and let us in.

"Wow. Nice!" Max looked at me with amazement when we got into the dorm. "I _really_ did not see that coming."

"Honestly, neither did I. But I've really had enough of her. It was about time someone took her down a peg." Max smiled at me.

I wanted to ask Max. "So.. about your powers…"

"We'll talk about that later. I need to bring Warren his flash drive."

"OK."

I went into my room, inside was already Christine, hugging me when I opened the door.

"Oh, thank God. I'm so glad you're alright." She was relieved.

"I'm fine, Chris. I just need to rest for a few moments. I've had a crazy day." I laid down on my bed and exhaled.

"I don't blame you."

I looked on the wall on which were pinned photographs of me, Ronald, Christine and Cassie in the amusement park, Ronald handing us a buttload of stuffed animals when we were in the carnival last summer and older photos on which was me and Ronald with Max and Chloe in Price's house.

Suddenly my phone in my pocket rang and I picked it up. It was my Mom. _Ronald must have told our folks what happened._

I pressed ANSWER and put the phone on my ear.

"Hey, Mom."

" _Oh, honey, are you alright? The principal and your brother called us and told us that you almost drowned in the swimming pool. Your Dad and I were really worried about you, Abigail._ " Mom was frantic.

"I'm fine, Mom. I'm in my room right now resting."

" _Did you go see the nurse? Maybe you nee-_ "

"Mom, calm down, I said I'm fine, OK? I just need to sleep it off, it's nothing serious." I was frustrated. She was even more overprotective than Ronald was.

" _Nothing serious? You almost died and…_ "

"Mom. I can handle this, really." I sighed. "Please, just… look, my friend is with me right now. She's gonna keep an eye on me. If something happens, she's gonna take care of me, so don't worry, please."

I heard nothing on the phone for a few seconds. " _… Alright, Abigail. But, please, watch out for yourself, alright? You know we just want to help you. I love you, baby._ "

I smiled. "I love you too, Mom. Give Dad a kiss for me, will you?"

" _I will, honey._ " She hung up. _Pheew._

"Can you blame her for being so freaked out right now?" Christine looked at me.

"I know, Chris. But I'll be fine."

"I just don't want you to end up like Cassie. Are you sure you can handle it?" She held my hand. "You really had me worried. You had a fucking panic attack back there in the showers."

I thought about telling her that I actually relived that hour all over again but… _What kind of actual proof do I have? She has no reason to believe me. Maybe I could ask Max to make her believe but… no. I should not use her like that._

"It's nothing. Really. I just… wanna rest."

I was lying on my bed, staring at the ceiling for the next 10 minutes until I heard shouting from the corridor.

"You can't get out now, Dana! So tell me the truth or rot in there!" I heard Juliet's voice which made my migraine even worse.

Christine sighed. "Looks like here comes the next episode of Blackwell Girl's Dorm drama."

"What's happening?" I ran my face with my hand frustrated, got up and went to the corridor.

I saw Max talking to Juliet.

"Hey Juliet, is everything cool?"

"Oh, yes Max," said Juliet sarcastically. "I've locked Dana in her room because we're cool. What do you think?"

"What did she do?" Max asked.

Juliet raised her voice. "What didn't she do? You don't sext with your best friend's boyfriend, do you!"

"Geez, can't you keep it down, Jules? I'm trying to rest here!" I complained when I held my head.

Juliet covered her mouth when she noticed me. "Abby. Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't know you were here. It's just-"

"Dana. Sexting with Zach. Really?" Christine crossed her arms and could not hide the sarcasm in her question.

"How did you find out?" Max asked her.

"Uh, why do you even care, Max? Why are you asking me? You never talk, just zone out with your camera."

"That's why I'm talking to you now, Juliet."

"Oh really?" What's my last name, then?"

"What?" Max was caught off-guard by the question.

"What's my last name?"

I was surprised that Juliet asked Max that but I can't really blame her right now. Max can be really shy and introvert. _C'mon, Max, please tell me you're not that geeky. The names of the roommates are written on the dorm board, for God's sakes._

"Uh, Juliet… Mason?"

 _Bzzzt! No!_ I had to facepalm.

Juliet made a sarcastic laugh. "Cha! That was truly sad, Maxine Caulfield. See, I know who you are! By the way, next time try Juliet _Watson_."

 ** _oOo_**

" _…next time try Juliet_ _ **Watson**_ _._ "

 ** _oOo_**

 _Again the shivering. Did she just rewind again?_

"What's my last name?" Juliet asked again the question.

"Juliet Watson, now you be nice. She's your friend." Max crossed her arms with certainty. _She did rewind! Why does it not affect me?_

"I'm… flattered, Max. I didn't think you knew my name at all." Juliet smiled and rubbed her hair.

"Of course I do, Juliet. Just because I'm quiet, doesn't mean I don't listen." I couldn't help but snort.

"Max, do you have a best friend?"

"I… used to. Why?"

"Would you sext her boyfriend?"

"What? No, of course not. I'd never do anything like that. Wait, why are you asking me? Dana didn't…"

"She did. She sexted Zach."

"Really? Do you really believe she'd do that to you?"

"According to Victoria, Dana would do anything to date a quarterback."

"According to Victoria?" _Victoria told Juliet that Dana cheats on her best friend with Zach?_

"She saw the sext. And Zach won't answer his phone. So, when Dana admits it, she can go. Straight. To. Hell."

"Max? Is that you?" I heard Dana's muffled voice from inside her room. "I swear I didn't do anything! But I bet Victoria did. The proof is probably in her room. Help me, please!"

I peeked at Victoria's room and saw that her door were open. I guess Taylor and Courtney can be really dumb sometimes.

"Juliet, stay here, OK?" Max asked Juliet.

"Whatever, Max. I'm not moving. And neither are you!" She screamed at the door.

Christine whispered to my ears. "Is she really so dumb she thinks that Dana would cheat on her with Zachary? They are best friends, aren't they?"

"Don't forget that Juliet can be emotional and jealous and that she is together with Victoria in the Vortex Club."

"Good point. _Hell hath no fury like the woman scorned._ " Chris nodded.

I saw Max enter Victoria's room and in a minute she came out with a paper in her hand.

"Somebody should really tell Victoria that some things are just not funny." Max commented.

"What is it, Max?" Christine asked.

Max showed us the paper. On it was written:

* * *

 _Taylor._

 _So sad to inform you that I total punkd Juliet and Dana just now. All I had to do was mention Juliet that I saw a nasty sext from Dana on Zach's phone._

 _Dumb azz believed me and so I expect there to be a dorm rampage soon. Juliet deserves this for slutting Zach away from me. As for Dana – who gives a shit?_

 _Get out your popcorn._

 _Xx_

 _VC_

* * *

 _That fucking bitch._ I breathed angrily.

"I really hate her." Christine commented and went to the corner of our room, grabbing a soda bottle. "Somebody should teach that skank a lesson. I've had enough of her shit."

Max and I went to Juliet and handed her the paper.

"Juliet, read this."

Juliet looked at the printed e-mail and sighed. "Of course." She opened the door to Dana and in her eyes was an apologetic look. "Dana, I'm an asshole. I'm so sorry. Truly."

"Yes, you are, and I hope so," said Dana hurt, her voice breaking down. "You really think I'd mess around with Zachary?"

Juliet wiped the tears on her eyes. "No, but you know I get stupid jealous. I owe you dinner." She smiled. "Forgive me?"

"You do my laundry." said Dana.

"Of course. Anything to make it up to you. Still love me?" Dana hugged Juliet in her arms and let her friend cry for a moment.

Max and I took a step back. Eventually, Juliet got a hold of herself and turned her attention to us.

"Thanks Max. You're like the Blackwell ninja." Her face hardened once more. "Now let's see what Zachary has to say about this." She left the dorm.

"You set me free," said Dana, smiling through past tears. "thanks Max." She let Max into her room.

"You might wanna be there with me, Abs." I felt Christine's hand on my arm. In her other hand was the bottle of soda she grabbed earlier. Christine dragged me to the entrance and hid behind the door. Then she held a finger on her lips, hinting for me to be quiet and opened the bottle.

She waited until Victoria, Courtney and Taylor entered and splashed the bottle on them.

" _What the fuck_? What's wrong with you? This is an expensive cashmere coat, are you fucking crazy, Christine?" Victoria was surprised and yelled at Christine angrily. Taylor and Courtney were taken aback.

"That was for that shit you pulled on Dana and Juliet, you bitch!" Christine spat at her face and then slapped Victoria across her face. I just stood there with my arms crossed. Everyone looked from their rooms. Some of them forced themselves not to burst out in hysterical laughter, others had their mouths opened in an awkward "O" shape with their eyes widened.

Dana and Max stood in their doorstep, throwing a condescending glare at the evil trio.

Victoria seemed to be lost for words for a moment and was caught off guard but then she regained her bitchy attitude. "You've got some fucking nerve. I guess you are just as dumb as your shit-ass imitation, trying to mess with me. You're gonna… HEY!"

Christine snapped and grabbed Victoria by her coat and glared her right into her eyes, grinding her teeth. "Don't. You. Dare. Threaten. Me. And. My. Sister." She really lost it. Taylor and Courtney just stood there frozen with surprise and Victoria was again little terrified. Christine's pupils were full of pure rage and spite.

I realized I had to do something and interfered. I pulled Christine away. "C'mon, Chris, that's enough. Leave them alone." I dragged her out from our dorm. _Wow, she almost freaked out on her just like me ten minutes ago. Phew. At least it was not Ronald taking a vendetta at them, he would fuck those bitches over._

Before I closed the door, I saw Taylor's and Courtney's rooms opened and Max running to Victoria with towels and handed them to her. "I'm so sorry, Victoria, that's an awesome cashmere coat."

I high-fived Christine outside our dorm. "That. Was. Fucking. Awesome!" I laughed with Christine.

"She had it coming for a long time." Christine was laughing hysterically now.

Max went out a few moments later, biting her lips, trying not to laugh too. "About time someone put those bitches down a peg or two."

I realized what did I see Max do.

"I saw you trying to comfort Victoria. Why would you help…" Christine asked.

"Do you really wanna stoop down to their level, Christine?" Max crossed her arms.

"Aw. Shit. I hate it when you're right, Max." Christine ran her hand on her nose. "But you have to admit – she deserved it."

"Maybe, but it doesn't make it right. And she's not always as bitchy as she seems to be." She gave us a scornful look.

I could not help but scoff. "I find that hard to believe."

"All I'm saying is… just be open-minded and don't judge her by the first look. She deserves a shot." Max's expression softened.

"If you say so, Max." I shrugged my shoulders. Christine's phone rang and she looked at it.

"Shit. I gotta go babysitting this afternoon again. I gotta go. Bye, girls." She kissed me on my cheeks.

"Bye, Chris." Christine ran out.

 ** _oOo_**

 _Again? What happened now?_

I turned around and saw Max warning Alyssa. "Alyssa, move your head."

The fat girl was surprised but did as Max said and then a moment later, Zachary was looking at his cellphone, then he angrily swore and threw down his football and it bounced and hit the dorm window.

 _Wow._ Max and Alyssa then had a friendly talk but I took her hand. "Max. _Warren_ …" I used a hinting tone.

Max and I went to the exit but then I heard David's voice.

"I see everything here at Blackwell. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"No, and leave me alone." A scared, squeaky girl voice followed. _Kate?_

I looked outside and saw Kate afraid, backing off and David intimidating her. I widened my eyes, not believing what I was seeing. _The security chief was harassing the poor little sweet Kate Marsh, of all the people._

 _If there is someone who does not deserve being hassled by that prick, it's her._

We stepped out and approached David.

"Hey, leave her alone!" I shouted at David. Kate turned around, in her eyes was pure gratitude.

Max scorned him. "You should not be yelling at students or bully them!"

David turned his attention to us. "Excuse me, this is an official campus business. Nobody is bullying anybody, I'm just doing my job."

But I scoffed. "Yeah, right. Like you did when I was sick in the bathroom and you suspected us for planning some dirty schemes." I glanced at Max. "You should be more _caring_ to students, like _my brother_ , not a _bully_ like _right now_."

David grunted and snarled at us. "Ladies, you two are becoming a part of the problem. I will remember this conversation."

He glared at Kate once more but said nothing more and left her alone. Max and I went to her, taking her arms.

"Are you OK, Kate?"

"Girls, that was great." Kate said, her voice breaking once more. "I think you actually scared him for once." She straightened up and went to the dorm.. "I have to go, but thank you. It means a lot." She walked away.

"Any time, Kate." Max and I said unisono.

I accompanied Max outside the main building to the parking lot but then we saw Juliet sitting by the wall, tears on her face.

"Hey, Jules." I greeted her.

Juliet looked up. "Oh. *sniff* Hi, girls." _Oh. She must be really hurt right now._

"Are you OK, Juliet?" I asked her.

"Sorry, I'm still screwed up. But thanks. At least now I know the truth."

"Did you see Dana?" Max was concerned.

"Yeah, she caught up with me earlier. Thanks again and I'm sorry for upsetting you back in the dorm, Abby. I could have lost my best friend as well. You're… you two are really good friends. Thanks."

"I'm just sorry you had to find out about Zachary that way. Or any way, really." Max comforted her.

"Better I find out now than have that skank Victoria laughing at me behind my back. I'm glad that Christine splashed the soda on her. She definitely deserves it." I had to smirk at that. Max and Juliet smiled at that too.

"Have you talked to Zach yet? He didn't seem happy when we saw him earlier."

"Yeah. Mr Badass-Football-Hero is such a chickenshit. He said he sexted Victoria as a joke. Ha ha. I'm so laughing right now." Her eyes were filling up again. "Look at me, I'm a mess. What am I gonna do?"

I knew I had to make her feel better.

"Can we be honest with you?" Max sat down next to her and looked at me.

"I'd appreciate it, that's what I like about _you two_."

"Is having a boyfriend like Zach the most important thing right now? Do you care that much about being on his arm? Because, forgive us, but that's how most of the people see it."

"It's not just about that. You wouldn't understand." Juliet caught herself and looked up. "Sorry, I didn't mean anything by that. I meant that in Blackwell, the Vortex Club is all about appearances. And dating the quarterback of the team is a catch."

I couldn't help but scoff. "Really? Is he really a catch? I mean Zach now, not the 'quarterback' label. I mean look at you. If he does not pay enough attention to you, either he's dense or an asshole.

Don't ever believe you're not good enough for him. If anything, he is totally not in your league."

"I suppose…"

"And don't forget, Juliet, that you have a best friend who loves you and isn't constantly thinking about how to get in your pants, or how you look on her arm, or how cool you make her look. She loves you for you. Now, the way we look at it, that is far more important than how Victoria sees you. Because," continued Max, "that's what this is really about, isn't it?" She looked at me and I just nodded.

Juliet looked at us again and her eyes were widened.. "Wow girls, that was some next-level shit there. That was… thanks, that means a lot. * sniff * I'm sorry, Max. I may have underestimated you. And you're both right, of course," she continued, "I was far too wrapped up in, well, Zach. That's twice today, girls. I won't forget it." She smiled. "And I'm sorry for disturbing you earlier in the dorm, Abby." She hugged me around my neck and I patted her in the back.

"It's OK, Jules. I'm fine now. I… just wanna forget about the shit that just happened to me."

"I really hope you'll feel better tomorrow. I think Warren wants your attention, Max." She looked at Max.

"Yeah, he usually does. Hang in there, Juliet. And remember, Abby and I are here for you."

"I appreciate it. Thanks, guys. I'll see you around."

I followed Max to the parking lot where Warren was waiting. I saw him standing by a small blue car and whistled.

"Wow, that's your new ride, Warren?"

"Yeah, my new wheels, ladies. Are you OK, Abby? You looked like shit earlier when we saw you run into the bathroom." He gave me a genuine look.

"I'm good now, thanks, Warren. I just wanna get some rest." I smiled at him.

Max put out a flash drive out of her pocket. "Here's your drive, Warren."

Warren took the drive and asked Max. "Did you get to check the movie booty on my drive?"

I remembered. _A movie geek. I also like movies._

"Not really, but I saw some cool stuff in there."

Warren smirked at that. "Make sure you check out _Cannibal Holocaust_ , huh?"

I know that movie. "Warren, _ewww_. I hate cannibals." I was disgusted.

"C'mon, Abby, it's classic." He laughed a bit.

Max giggled. "Seen it already, I was more disturbed by all the emo-vampire movies you had on there."

"Can't a sensitive high school boy like sensitive vampires?" Warren shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah, right. Warren Graham is _sensitive_." I said sarcastically.

Warren burst out in laugh. "Ouch, sounds mean when you say it like that, Abby."

Max shook her head. "I was impressed you had ' _Faster Pussycat Kill, Kill_ '."

"Russ Meyer was the expert on old black and white cinematography." Warren commented. "Plus babes with breasts…"

"Who'd beat your sensitive ass down." Max joked. "And your ride is _very_ old school."

"Model 1978, to be exact. Now We can go to the drive-in, there's one in Newberg, just 60 miles away." Warren smiled but then he looked at me again. "Are you sure you're fine, Abs? You look a little pale, if I'm being honest."

"Don't worry, tomorrow it's gonna be like if I never drowned."

"Yeah and by the way, I heard that you and your roommate totally ran her down by yelling at her to let you pass and not make a fun of you and splashing a bottle of soda on her and giving her a bitch-slap. Man, I'd pay king's ransom to be there and record it." Warren giggled.

Max seemed nervous right now and Warren immediately caught up to it. "What's wrong, Max?"

Max and I looked at each other, hesitating for a moment. _Should we tell him? I mean, no one is gonna believe us but Warren is Max's best friend. If anyone would_ _ **really**_ _listen to Max, if I don't count myself, it would be him. But I don't think…_

"Warren, there's… there's something else Abby and I need to get off our chests." Max admitted and turned her attention to him again.

Warren said coolly. "Well Dr. Warren Graham is in da house, I won't even prescribe the two of you any meds."

"I… it's been one strange fucking day." Max exhaled.

"As for Abby, I don't blame her. Sorry." He glanced at me and I just smiled, hinting him not to worry about me. "If you need to tell me something important, I'm all ears. You know you can trust me."

 _Max. Tell me that you're not gonna tell him what I think you're gonna tell him._

"I had a weird experience in Mr. Jefferson's class today and something strange happened to Abby when she almost drowned too…" _Max. Shut the fuck up! You're earning us a one way ticket to the psych ward!_ I gave her a serious glare. But then I remembered that Warren and Max are close friends and if someone in Blackwell would _actually_ listen to her, besides me, it would be him. Max leaned herself against Warren's car.

"Have you ever…had a dream, so vivid and real, it was like a movie…?" Max started. Warren was relaxed and patiently listened but before Max got to go on, the last person Max and I needed to see today showed up.

"Abigail Powell, the drowner otter and Max Caulfield, the photo groupie from Jefferson." Max and I turned our attention to the source of the venomous voice, in my spine running the chill.

 _Oh, you have gotta be fucking shitting me!_ It was Nathan Prescott. _What the fuck is he doing here?_ In his eyes was anger and his face was grinning with rage, just like back in the bathroom. I tried not to seem freaked out and took a breath to calm down, just like I practiced in the swimming class.

"I'm not a drowner, I just had an accident in the pool today." I crossed my arms, trying to look tough and not intimidated. "What do you want, make fun of me just like the rest of you, snob asses?"

"No, I have some questions for you two and you better not fuck with me, you bitches, _you hear me_?" Nathan snarled, his face slowly reddening and blood pressure raising. _Geez, he's a total mental case. Please, tell me he's not gonna pull his gun on us._

Nathan then stepped closer to us.

"I know you like to take pictures, especially when you hide in bathrooms, Shitfield and I know that you were throwing up in the girl's bathroom just this morning, Powell!" He snarled. "I suggest you tell me what the fuck you heard back there, right now."

Max acted dumb. "I don't know what are you talking about."

But Nathan did not buy that. "I know you're new here, but don't you even try to play stupid with me."

I snapped. "Max is not new here, she and I grew up in here!"

"Then you two should know that the Prescott's own this shit-hole."

"Don't worry about _us_ , worry about _yourself_." Max played tough. But if Nathan was really as unstable as I thought he was…

"Do not analyse me!" Nathan snapped, yelling out before lowering his voice.. "I pay people for that, you two should worry about yourselves."

 _OK, that's enough._ I pulled out a taser gun Ronald bought me few years back when he got released from juvie after beating that assailant. "Take a step back, Nathan Prescott." I warned him, my hand on the trigger.

Nathan scoffed at looking at my gun. "Oh man, are you threatening me? Don't tell me you're that fucking dumb. You touch me and my Dad's gonna end your swimming career."

"I'm not _threatening_ you, I'm giving you an advice. _Back. The. Fuck. Off._ "

Nathan's cheeks were going red and then Warren intervened, "Hey, get away from them, dude!" Warren tried to fend him off, but what happened next surprised me. Nathan snapped and headbutted him, knocking Warren down on the ground. I covered my mouth in shock, which Nathan used to slap the gun away from my hand.

"Hey, leave them alone!" Max shoved Nathan but Nathan was more provoked, grabbing Max by her throat.

"Nobody tells me what to do!" He spat at Max's face. "Not you two bitches, not my parents, not the Principal, or that fucking whore in the bathroom!"

I grabbed Nathan by his arms and pulled him away from Max right after she scratched him across his face in self-defense. "That's enough, you son of a bitch!"

Nathan fell on the ground but he then kicked me into my stomach and I fell down on a hood of a car as Max grabbed me. Then I heard a familiar voice from driver's seat.

"Max? Abby?"

I turned my attention to the source of the voice and as I looked the driver in her eyes, it was that punk girl I saw earlier in the bathroom, but more importantly, I realized it was an old friend of mine and Max's, someone we had not seen for a long time.

"Chloe?" Max and I blurted in surprise, our eyes widening.

Nathan just recovered and got up. "No fucking way. You aga-" Warren tackled Nathan down on the ground.

"Get out of here, girls, I got this!"

I saw Nathan pummeling him. _Our hero in shining armor taking the hit for us._

Chloe opened the passenger door for us. "Get in here, c'mon!"

Max instinctively grabbed my hand and we jumped into her truck just before Nathan kicked the door shut and I yelped from seeing his angered face. Nathan then slammed his fists into the door. "Get your punk asses out of there now! Don't even try to run! Nobody messes with me! Nobo- _gaaaarrhlklllh_!" Nathan suddenly was shaking around comically with his face twitching in awkward grimaces, then he fell on the ground and as he was falling, behind him appeared Ronald, with his taser gun from which I saw wires extended.

 _Oh, Jesus Christ. I can't believe Ronald actually tazed Nathan. But thank God again for him being here. That's the second time he saved my and Max's bacon._

Chloe was now hysterically laughing. I have to admit, this was another priceless moment, second to seeing Victoria get splashed.

In Ronald's face was now contempt and anger, like from an animal, trying to protect his younglings. "You think you can bully my sister and her close friend and just walk away with it, you son of a bitch? Huh?" Ronald grabbed Nathan from the ground by arm, Nathan was still shaking and babbling from the electrical current surging in his body right now. "Oh, you're in big trouble, young man, _this time_ I have witnesses here." He glanced at Warren.

Ronald turned his attention to us. "Hey, Chloe. Good to see you."

"Hi, Ronnie." Chloe said in between laughters, her face turning red. I just had my eyes widened.

"I'm glad all three of you are catching up, though under unusual circumstances." Ronald then handed me a spare taser gun as he opened the door. "Try not to hesitate next time, Abs." Then he shook his head to the left. "Now get out of here."

Chloe hit the gas and we left the Academy. In the rear mirror I saw Ronald handing Nathan to David.

* * *

I looked at Max and Chloe. _Weirdest reunion of the childhood friends ever._

Chloe still laughed in between for about the next half an hour in the car before she started to talk to us.

"I can't believe your brother _actually_ _tazed_ Nathan Prescott. Man, I'd pay hella money to put that scene on the Internet."

I looked at her. "Really, thanks Chloe. You saved our asses back there."

"No problem. Anything to get you two out of the hands of that fucking prick." Chloe smirked.

"Chloe…" Max was relieved now. "… you have no fucking idea how glad we are to see you. And it makes perfect sense we'd see you today."

But I realized that the last five years I have not treat Chloe as well as I should have. "I… I'm sorry I have been avoiding you for the past few years. I mean… I was there for you when you Dad died, remember?"

"Yeah, at the beginning, but then you turned your back on me. _Both_ of you!" Chloe's eyes were like daggers now when she looked at us.

"Chloe, can you blame me? I know it was hard for you, but I did not recognize you anymore after William. You've changed so much, I wasn't even sure you were the same friend I played with in the back yard. _You_ ran away, _you_ started to smoke weed, and _you_ dropped out, _what_ did you expect of me?" I was so hurt now and my tears were filling up and my heart was falling down my ribcage, getting heavier and heavier.

" _You_ could have been there for me, no matter what, Abs! At least I was not alone! At least I found ano…" I almost jumped in my back seat when Chloe snapped.

"Girls, stop!" Max raised her arms on both of us, trying to diffuse the situation. There was an awkward silence for about 30 seconds, if I don't count my sniffing before Chloe again started talking, this time in milder tone.

"I'm sorry, Abs. I just… look, forget about it, I'm just glad we're all here together after all those years." Then she changed the subject.

"So what did that freak want with you two?"

I thought quickly of an excuse. "Nathan Prescott? He was making a fun of me, because I almost drowned in the pool today and when I told him to back off, it got out of hand quickly and if it weren't for you…"

Chloe nodded. "Yeah, he is a real mental ca… wait a second, you _almost drowned today_?" Chloe widened her eyes in shock and then they were full of guilt. "That was _you_?" Max and I nodded. "Holy shit, I'm so sorry, Abs, if I'd known it was you, I wouldn't have sn…"

"Don't worry about it, I guess I had it coming from you. I didn't mean to leave you, it's just…"

Chloe waved her hand. "It's cool, I'm glad you two are here _now_ and that your brother busted him. Though I probably think that he's gonna pay the principal off to ignore the incident."

 _Maybe, but I'm glad that that shit-ass finally got a lesson._

"So, I guess Seattle sucked hard?" Chloe turned her attention to Max.

Max replied. "It was nice but I never really could…get with anything, guess I'm a small town girl at heart, that's why I came back here."

"Please girl, you came back for Blackwell Academy." Chloe pointed out, scoffing.

"Only for Mark Jefferson, his work is just amazing and…"

Chloe said sarcastically. "Of course your best friend." _You have not changed, Chloe._ I looked down.

"Don't you think me and Abby happy to see you?"

"Abby, yeah, but you… you were happy to wait five years without a call or even a text."

I realized that this would go the same way it did with me and Chloe just a minute ago and I cleared my throat before Chloe and Max shut up and tried to have a calmer conversation.

"I am sorry; I know things were tough for you when I left." Max said apologetically.

Chloe sounded disappointed and I noticed she was trying hard _not_ to snap and raise her voice again. "You have no idea. You weren't even here, Max."

Max still held a weak tone. "I didn't ask my parents to move to Seattle specifically to fuck you over Chloe."

Chloe snorted. "You've been at Blackwell for almost a month without a word, and neither of you two told me a single word about it."

"I just wanted to settle in first and not be such a shy cliché geek for once in my life." Max explained. "I totally would have contacted you."

"We just didn't want to rush things and… wanted to take our time. We would have reached out to you sooner or later, pinky swear." I explained.

Chloe had a condescending glare in her eyes. "I bet you don't use these sad excuses on Mr. Jefferson, don't use them on me."

Max then pulled out her camera and I saw it was broken, probably from the fight with Nathan.

"Oh man, are you cereal?"

Chloe and I laughed at hearing Max's old trademark catch-phrase and I was glad we were all in the mood again. The guilt and sadness vanished as quickly as it appeared. "Wow, haven't heard that one in a while."

"Not everything changes, except my camera has officially taken a shit." Max was so sad now. _Poor Max, she loves doing photographs with polaroid. I can't blame her._

"My step-douche has a boatload of tools; maybe you can fix it up at my place?" Chloe offered.

 _Step-douche? I heard that Joyce had remarried but I did not pay that much attention to it. I guess Chloe really hates his guts._

Max sighed. "I need very specific tiny tools."

Chloe giggled again. "Whoa, nerd alert. My step-dad has a fully stocked garage. And he actually really _is a tiny tool_."

Chloe's face finally turned into a pure happiness.

"It's good to be back together, girls. Just like old times."

Chloe drove us back to Price's house. I have not been here a while and Max and I smiled while looking from the window.


	4. Episode 1: Chrysalis - Part 3

_**Episode 1: Chrysalis - Chapter 3**_

Chloe opened the door into the house for us and as I looked around, I smiled, admiring that this place has not changed in one bit. I guess Max had to be just as amazed as I was when we looked around.

"Wow. It's still the same as it was last time I was here." Max said.

Chloe sighed. "Yeah. Home, shit home."

The wave of nostalgia caught me and Max right now when we looked outside the garden.

* * *

" _Arrrgh, Ronald the Blackbearded is taking over this ship, lasses! Hand over your gold and your pretty ladies and you might not end up in Davy Jones's locker." My brother was wearing a pirate costume and a fake eyepatch with a plastic saber and I was in dress, rope tied around me._

 _"Help! This evil pirate is holding me hostage! Somebody help me!_ "

 _Chloe and Max jumped out from the bushes in their sailor outfits, Chloe holding another plastic sword and on her shoulder a fake parrot and Max had in her hands pistol toys._

" _Don't worry, milady, Captain Chloe and her first mate Max are coming to the rescue!_ "

 _Then Chloe started to fence with Ronald._

* * *

"I'm glad we're back here." Tears were streaming down my cheeks again.

Max took me upstairs to Chloe's room. While she was shocked when she entered, I was not that much surprised. It was a mess last time I was here about two years ago and it has not really changed. Punk rock posters, CDs and clothes on the floor, grafitti on the wall, this place also had the odour of booze and tobacco.

"It has changed a lot last time you were here, Max, I know." Chloe fell down on her bed.

"For me, it didn't that much." I smiled at Chloe. Max put her camera on the table.

"Put on some music while I medicate, please." I sat next to Chloe while Max opened the box next to the bed and started searching the stuff inside it and Chloe and I instantly turned our attention to her when she grabbed a photograph.

" _Rachel?_ "

Chloe was annoyed now and snatched the picture of Max's hands. "What? Hey, give me that!"

"Sorry, I wasn't trying to be nosy." Max apologized. "I just recognized the picture, that's all. Obviously she was a good friend."

Chloe looked confused now as she turned to me. "You didn't tell her?"

"I… we have not really got a chance to talk that much when Max returned. I planned to catch up with all of us, I swear." I stammered.

"She looks beautiful." Max admired the picture.

Chloe laid down on her back again and sighed. "Yeah. She… she was a good friend. She was _really_ there for me after my Mom dragged into our house the step-dick - no offense, Abby." She gave me a short glance and I smiled, calming her down.

"She was my angel. When you alienated yourselves from me and Mom was in over her head with step-ass after Dad died… she saved me.

We planned to get a lot of cash, get out of this shit-hole and head to L.A. But… she vanished out of the blue six months ago."

"What happened?" Max asked.

I explained. "No one really knows, Max. I mean Chloe and Rachel's parents called the cops but no one could find a sign of her in Arcadia Bay."

"Maybe she left without Chloe."

"If you knew her, Max, you would not be thinking that." Chloe was hurt by that thought. Then she stared at the ceiling for a few seconds. "There's no way she would leave me without telling me first!" Chloe sighed again. "Look, I just wanna blaze and have some privacy, if you two don't mind. The tools you need are down in the garage, Max."

 _Yeah. I don't wanna smell with weed. Thanks for consideration, Chloe._

"Sure, just… call us if you need us." I went down with Max.

I went down in the garage with Max, she described me what kind of tools does she exactly need and how do they look like. We searched the shelves and the drawers and in one closet was a TV, I turned it on and on it was… the living room? I turned the next channel and I saw the upper floor next.

 ** _oOo_**

I felt it but ignored it.

"Max, you need to see this." Max also looked at the TV.

"Who the hell would be paranoid enough to plant cameras around the house?"

 _A total nutjob._ Then I saw a gun rack on the wall and on it was a photograph of… _security chief David Madsen? Ronald's boss? He's Chloe's stepfather? Holy shit, no wonder she hates him. In fact, no one at school likes him, even Ronald complains about him sometimes._

"Oh. My. God." I let out. Max nodded.

On the cupboard was a pile of folders. In them were profiles of Blackwell's students. Me, Max, even Kate. Photographs, surveillance notes with dates… _That paranoid weirdo was stalking us? What the fuck? He's playing at Sherlock Holmes? Accusing Kate of being a party girl and drug addict?_

But when I opened another page, a bunch of papers inside the folders fell on the oil stain on the floor.

 _Oh, no!_

 ** _oOo_**

The files were now back where they were before Max and I looked at them. I glanced at Max. "Your doing?"

"Yeah."

"Good. We should not leave any clues that we were here. Did you find what you need?"

Max showed me the box of tiny tools and then we got back up to Chloe.

I was looking at some old photos of ours with Chloe while Max was trying to fix her camera.

"How's it going, Max?" I asked her.

"I… I can't fix this."

Chloe and I looked at Max with pity right now and then something piqued Chloe's interest. "Are these your new photos?"

"I took them today."

Chloe then started to grown when a particular picture caught her attention. "Wait a second, I've seen that butterfly before…" Her eyes were widening in realization. "No way. No fucking way, you were in the bathroom! You set off the alarm, that's why Nathan raged at you two! You hella saved my life."

 _Busted!_ I had to nod. "Yeah. I was there too with Max, feeling sick in the toilets but I locked the door the moment Prescott busted in."

"Damn, you two are like ninjas."

Max laughed. "A ninja would cut Nathan's head off, I just took a butterfly photo and Abby was just vomiting in the toilets."

I covered my face in shame as Chloe giggled at that.

"So… did you two recognize me?"

"I… not really. I mean, you looked familiar but I had a shitty angle of view. All I saw was Nathan with the gun pinning somebody to the wall."

"Yeah, my point of view wasn't exactly a VIP spot either. We knew we saw you before but we were not sure." Max noted.

"I know I look a lot different now." Then she pulled out something else. "So... that means you two overheard our conversation."

Max and I looked at each other. There was no going back from here. I confessed "All we heard was an argument about money and drug dealing before Nathan pulled a gun on you."

"Did you tell anyone?"

Max shook her head. "No, though the principal and Ronald caught us leaving the bathroom when the fire alarm went off but I made an excuse that Abby was feeling sick and could not get out because of it."

"Good thing you did not tell the principal. That drunk jackass only cares about the cash for Blackwell. And while I like your brother," Chloe looked at me. "he's not gonna risk trying to antagonize Prescotts. Not without concrete proof and valid reason."

"Just like when Nathan attacked us in the parking lot." I noted and we all laughed at remembering seeing Nathan electrocuted.

Chloe pulled out from a cabinet another camera. That camera seemed familiar to me.

"I know it was your birthday last month, Max. Here. It was…"

"William's?" Now I remembered. "Chloe, that's awesome but… are you sure?"

Max shook her head. "I can't take this, Chloe."

"Take it, my dad would be pissed that I never used it and now I know it will be used awesomely. Take it and, I'll snag this picture as a symbol of our reunion, cool?" Chloe grabbed me and took Max's hand, wanting to do a selfie with us.

I looked at the polaroid picture. "Awesome."

"Of course it's awesome, now let's put all the mushy shit out of the way and stage-dive, hippies!" Chloe turned on the CD player and started to jump on her bed while listening to the rock music.

"Chloe, you're nuts!" I laughed.

"Of course I'm insane in the brain but this song fucking rules, so shake those bony-asses, ladies!" I danced to the rhythm and remembered some of the Vortex Club parties. I never drank alcohol there, I don't even like it, I just danced and used some break-dance moves I learned in there. "C'mon, rawk out, girls! Max, take a pic of us!"

Max photographed us and then we all danced to the music but a minute later I heard a familiar annoyed male voice. "Chloe, are you up there?"

Chloe suddenly whispered. "Yo, turn it off, turn it off!" and threw her cigar on the table. Max quickly turned off the CD player.

"How many times did I tell you to stop blasting that punk shit?" _David?_

"Dude, the music's not even on!" Chloe shouted.

"I'm coming up, we need to talk!"

 _Oh, fuck, no!_

"Girls, you need to hide now, both of you! Step-shit's gonna go whacko if he catches you two here." Chloe barricaded the door for a few moments. Max took the lamp out of the way, then she hid in the closet, I tried to hide under the bed, but there was no time to clean the mess down there, so I opened the window and went on the roof.

I sat out there quiet, just listening. I heard the door open.

"What's going on in here, Chloe?" David asked in an authoritative tone.

Chloe was defensive. "I was trying on clothes, Jesus, you're so fucking paranoid."

David snorted. "Yeah, combat will do that to you. One of my guns is missing, did you take it?" _That paranoid prick._

Chloe growled. "God, I didn't take your stupid gun, okay, I actually believe in gun control."

"Wait, is that grass?" David was now losing it. "Have you been toking up in here again? Tell me the truth, that's an order!" _Shit, he found the joint._

I was thinking if I should step up just like when David was intimidating Kate earlier but…no, this time he's messing with his step-daughter and we're on his home ground. This is not gonna end well for me.

Chloe sighed frustrated. "Stop treating me and my mom like we're your goddamn family platoon."

David yelled in anger. "Hey, leave Joyce out of this!"

Chloe snapped. "I wish you'd leave Joyce, like right now!"

Then I heard a slap. I covered my mouth. _Oh, my God. Did he just hit Chloe? I knew he was nutty in his head but this?_

For a moment there was a grave silence before David tried to make out a more gentle tone.

"Chloe, I'm sorry…I love your mother, but you just. _Keep. Pushing_ _me_."

Chloe growled. "Don't ever touch me again, asshole. That's the last time. Or I'll bring the cops in here so fast…"

"You're not that dumb." David coolly retorted and sighed. "Chloe… someday you'll grow up."

Then I heard the door close and I entered the room again through the window and Max came out of the closet. Both of us felt guilty for not intervening.

"Are you alright?" I slowly mewwed out.

Chloe was sitting on her bed, looking down hurt, holding her face. "Welcome to the real step-douches of Arcadia Bay."

Max tried to comfort Chloe. "Chloe, we're so sorry…"

Chloe waved her hand coolly. "For what? He would have been a bigger dick if he'd caught you two here."

"Somehow I doubt that." Max uttered.

Chloe stood up and went to the window. "Anyway, let's get outta her; I know a place we can still go in this hickhole to explore."

Then my phone buzzed and I looked at the message.

It was from my brother.

* * *

 _RONALD: Abigail, we need to talk face-to-face ASAP. Please come home. Chris and I are really worried about you and we've got some questions._

 _xOxO_

 _R._

* * *

"Uh, sorry, girls, but you're gonna have to go without me. My brother wants me to come home. If I don't get back in an hour, he's gonna freak out."

Chloe smiled and nodded. "It's OK, Abby. So, rain check with you? Tomorrow? The diner? All three of us?" She looked at Max.

"Sure." Max agreed.

"Definitely." I also approved.

* * *

I went out and took the bus to our house. When I entered the house, Ronald and Christine were sitting at the table in the dining room, with really concerned looks and Ronald had his arms crossed.

"Can we talk for a moment, Abigail?" Ronald asked.

"What's happening, guys?" I was confused but sat down.

"Before I start, you should know that Nathan is not going to bother you or Max anymore. Warren testified against him when he harassed you and Max and Nathan got a reprimand from the principal.

He's not going to be so stupid to lay a finger on you two ever again."

"Thanks." I was relieved.

"But I need to know the details. Why did Nathan attack you, Chloe and Max earlier afternoon in the car park?"

"I don't know. He was being a dick, like usual and he wanted to find a new target to rage on to."

"That's not what he told us when David and I interrogated him. Not that I believe him, but he said that you were digging into his own private business and he wanted to tell you to stay away from him.

He would not tell us the details but he said that you were stalking him and he just wanted you two to back off. And I saw him run away from corridor where the girl's bathroom where you and Max were in when you were sick."

I scoffed. "Right. Max and I _stalking_ the school's _rich asshole_ and a notorious drug dealer. We are _really_ suicidal."

"Abby. Please, tell us the truth. We've been worried about you all day since the swimming class." In Christine's eyes was a begging look. I remembered how did Cassie have a mental breakdown from the harassing and she moved back with her parents, attending an art school in Portland.

 _Chris is my best friend here in Arcadia Bay. And Ronald cares about me a lot. Just like a dutiful big brother._

I sighed. _They're not gonna stop. And they'll know if I'm lying._ "Fine. But you _both_ have to promise me that you _are not_ gonna tell this to anyone else, _especially_ to Principal Wells or the cops and that you are not gonna do something drastic and reckless." I looked at Ronald. "I mean it."

"Promise." Ronald and Christine said.

"When Max and I were in the bathroom, we saw Nathan come in, talking to himself and then…" _Should I tell them about Chloe? I should not but Ronald is a bullshit detector. He's gonna know if I'm holding something back._ "…some girl came in. I didn't get a good look at her, so I didn't know who she was. But she wanted to blackmail Nathan because she knew he was selling drugs to other students around here."

This surprised them. "What? Are you sure?" Ronald urged me.

"I would not joke about that, guys." I continued. "But Nathan pulled out a gun, he was slowly losing it and was about to kill her. That's when Max set off the fire alarm behind the stall. That surprised Nathan and the girl knocked him down, then they both ran away. I then left with Max and… y'know."

"Jesus Christ." Ronald buried his face in his hands. "Why didn't you tell the truth back there?"

"Think about it, Ronald. You know that Prescotts practically own Blackwell and Principal Wells needs money. What do you think he would do?"

Ronald sighed frustrated. "I hate it when you're right. So he must have somehow found out you two were eavesdropping, that's why he attacked you and Max in the parking lot."

I nodded.

Christine was scared right now. "We can't just let him walk away with it." She was angered and I didn't blame her. Chris hated Nathan as much as Ronald did because he sued her family and Cassie was so let down she moved out of Arcadia Bay.

"Maybe with good character witnesses we could do something about it. Do you know who that girl was? If we could bring her in, she and you and Max could testi-"

"No!" I shouted out which startled them. _Chloe and the cops? Bad combo._ "I mean… they're not gonna believe this girl."

"Why? Do you know who is she?"

 _Oh, crap. No going back now._ I took a breath. "Chloe."

"WHAT?" The second I finished the sentence, Ronald jumped out from the table, his eyes bulging out and Christine and I took a fright. " _Chloe_? Are… are you… sure?" Then it hit him. "Jesus, that would explain why he was raging on her truck.

Fuck. She never got along with cops." Ronald rubbed his hair and exhaled. "This just got a lot more complicated."

"We can't just let Nathan walk away with this." Christine begged Ronald.

"How does Chloe even know that Nathan sells dr…" Ronald waved his hand. "Oh, what am I saying, it's Chloe we're talking about, she knows a lot of drug dealers in this town."

Christine remembered. "I think Nathan may have spiked Chloe's drink. I saw them chatting in one bar few weeks back, Nathan was drunk, flashing bills, like he owns the place and Chloe tried to score the cash from him. They both then left the bar, but Chloe seemed more wasted than it would be usual for her. And we all know what is that fucker capable of."

There was an awkward silence for a moment and then Ronald suggested. "I think this has been a long day for all of us. I think we should grab a drink and relax." He grabbed out of the fridge three bottles of coke and we went into our garden, laying down on the deckchairs.

But suddenly I felt the pressure on my chest again, my heart was again pounding faster and faster and I could barely hold my breath, Ronald and Christine stood up from the chairs and came to me, holding my arms.

"Abby? Abby!"

Suddenly the room faded into the dark and Ronald and Christine vanished. I felt the cold wind again and raindrops splashing on my face. I covered my face and when I looked again, I was back in the forest during the storm walking to the cliff with the lighthouse, seeing the tornado.

 _Oh, God, no! Not again!_

I walked down the road and saw the doe and Max again. I followed them but then the cliff under me cracked and I fell down into the sea. I tried to swim back on surface of the water, only to find out I wasn't in the sea anymore, it was some enclosed, flooded space.

I saw the window and swam towards it. Into the window then flew the newspapers and I saw vaguely the date written on it.

 _October 11th? That's this Friday, in four days?_

Behind me was somebody else, two persons, they were but blurry, the shadow covering their faces, but I'm sure it was a man and a woman.

The man had a familiar voice, begging me. "Please. Don't leave me here! Don't let me die in here!"

The woman had Christine's voice. "Abby, find a way out!"

But the room filled with water in the next 5 seconds and I was underwater, again. I tried to hold my breath but could not find a way out. Soon enough I exhausted the oxygen in my lungs and was drowning and I opened my mouth, desperate for oxygen.

Then I heard some voices in the distance and felt trembling.

" _Abby, you need to wake up._ "

Ronald and Christine were shaking me as I recovered.

"Abby, you need to wake up!"

"Ronald. Christine." I gasped out and hugged them both, was relieved to see them, crying and sobbing now. "Oh my God. I'm back. I can't believe I'm back. That storm…"

Ronald held my arms "Abigail, calm down. You were just having some PTSD episode. It was just a seizure, you just zon…."

"No, it was real, guys!" I gasped out. "The storm is coming. I saw it, the tornado is heading towards Arcadia Bay! There's going to be a flood."

"Abs, there are tornados in Oregon once in 20 years." Christine was skeptical.

"You have to listen to me! I had this dream back in the swimming class when I overslept and when I almost drowned in the pool! And somehow I returned back in time with Max! Because she had the same dream I had! We saw the future!"

"Abs!" Christine squeezed my arms, trying to calm me down. "There's no such things as time travel."

"Think about it! Why do you think I was freaked out in the showers this morning? And why did Max and I rush into the girl's bathroom before Nathan and Chloe had an argument in there?"

"OK, I really should call the ambulance. Abigail, this is not a cartoon or a video g…" Ronald was pulling out a cellphone from his pocket when the snowflakes were falling down suddenly. "What the hell?" Ronald's eyes were full of confusion.

"Snowflakes? In October?" Christine stretched her arms, looking around confused. "That's not possible. Unless it's a…"

"…climate change." I finished.

In Ronald's and Christine's eyes was now terror and my brother asked me very seriously. "Abigail. Start from the beginning. Tell us everything."

* * *

 _And so I told them about how did I relive this morning and found out that Max can rewind time and about our visit in Chloe's house._

 _My brother and my best friend were not interrupting me the entire time. I told them about my dream, how did Ronald bust into the bathroom and I saw Nathan with a gun shooting Chloe and Max behind the stall before we traveled back in time and somehow I was not affected by Max's time traveling power._

 _They both were sitting down in the garden, just listening to an unbelievable story I was telling them. Neither of them understood what was happening but somehow they believed every single word I told them and they promised me to help me and Max figure this out._

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _So, I hope you like this so far. I know this might not be very original but I am trying to make up my own ideas as I progress in this story. I can promise that Abby, Ronald and Christine will participate in Max's and Chloe's adventures while having to deal with their own problems during the following episodes._

 _Please, if you have and comments, critics, remarks towards something, I am very open-minded and I will try to satisfy you._

 _I'd appreciate immediate feedback right after you finish reading every episode._

 _See you guys soon in the next episode: **Life is Strange - E2 - Out of Time**_

 _With greetings_

 _BlackHunter :-)_


	5. Episode 2: Out of Time - Part 1

_**Episode 2: Out of Time - Chapter 1**_

I had this morning another dream. I did not see anything but I heard train horn and someone screaming and metal creaking, probably the train's breaks.

" _Help! I'm stuck! I can't get out!_ "

Then I saw the rain, everything was blurry but there a crowd of people gasping in disbelief watching someone hanging on the edge of the roof. A girl's cry was echoing faintly in the clouds but I couldn't make out who it was.

Next followed something else. And it was not a dream but a memory, so vivid and real that it was almost as if it was happening right now. It was something I have been trying to move on from. The pain and fear I felt back then, I relived all over again.

* * *

When I was 16, I was in the bar outside Arcadia Bay singing and playing with my brother on guitars and my _back-then_ boyfriend, Ian Marks was playing on piano because that day was an open-mic night in there.

Right after we had finished our turn and I returned to the promoter the borrowed guitar, I went to the bar to buy my coke, Ronald grabbed his bottle of beer and together with the entire bar he chanted " _Knocking On Heaven's Door_ ".

Then someone came to me when I was going to the counter to pay for our drinks … a guy with long black hair, in mid-20s wearing a black leather jacket, all drunk, I could smell the booze from half the bar away as he asked me. "Hey there. What does such a pretty lady like you do in such a lame-ass bar at the edge of this worthless shithole?" He had a gruffy tone.

I tried to be civil and just smiled at the guy. "Just… having some fun, watching the game with my brother and my boyfriend. Nothing less, nothing more."

The guy chuckled. "Really? Just having some fun watching the game, doll?" He imitated mockingly my voice. "You sure you don't wanna have some different kind of fun?"

I knew where this might head and I grinned disgustingly. "What? No. Please just leave me alone." I waved my hand to him and stood up.

"C'mon, you don't need to be so reserved. I just wanna get to know ya." He grabbed me by my wrist.

"I'm not interested." I said politely and gently shook off his hand but he grabbed me again, this time more rudely, his strength hurting my arm slowly. _Ouch._

"Hey!" My brother raised his voice and came to me. "Leave my sister alone." Ronald came to the drunk with a very hostile glare.

"We were just talking." The drunk shrugged his left shoulder.

"Bull." Ronald said. "I'm gonna say this just one more time. _Leave my sister alone_. She's not interested."

"She might be." The guy smiled, trying to pull me to him but Ian got his hand off my arm.

"Uh-uh. Already taken."

As the drunk measured Ian head to toe, he turned his attention to me. "You've got better taste than this, doll." He started to drag me away, his eyes were one of a hungry wolf but Ronald took his hand off my arm.

"Hey! Don't you even _touch_ my sister, asshole. If she does not want to have anything to do with you, then please back the fuck off of her. This is the _last time_ I'm going to ask you politely." Ronald was reaching his pocket discreetly in which I knew he had the taser as I smiled.

The drunk was grinning annoyingly and I was afraid that either him or Ronald was going to do something stupid but then someone else came to us. A tall guy with long hair and beard, his neck covered in tattoos, pulling gently the drunk away from him.

"OK, someone had enough for one night. C'mon, buddy, she's not your type nor your age anyway. Let's get outta here." The bearded guy then turned to us. "Sorry about him, when he takes more than two shots of whiskeys, he can't help himself around ladies."

"No problem." I said calmly.

Ronald and Ian calmed down too but still could not stop glowering as those two men walked away. "Just keep an eye on your pal next time. Tell him that trying to screw with my girlfriend is a dumb move." Ian warned them.

I pulled Ronald's arm to get his attention. "Ronald, what the hell, are you crazy?" I whispered. "You were gonna taze him in the public place, for God's sake!"

"We will never let _any_ of those jerks hurt you, Abs." Ian said gently.

"I could have handled that." I said with more certainty than I actually felt.

Ronald frowned. "Maybe… but he would try it again. Now, with me and Ian around, he won't."

As Ronald and Ian were laughing out loud from watching another drunk participator sang " _I Can't Smile Without You_ ", but _waaaay_ out of the pitch and the crowd sang along, I went out into an alley for some fresh air, trying to get rid of the stench of the tobacco and _not_ listen to that awful singing.

But that was a big mistake because a few moments later that drunk showed up from the shadow, ripping off my shirt.

"You need to have some fun, babe." The drunk's eyes were full of lust when he looked at me and I panicked.

"Get off me, you freak!" I kicked him in the stomach and pushed him away but he smiled insanely.

"Oh, you've got fire in you, I like that!" That bastard was trying to take off my bra, his hands were too strong for me to fight back as he held my leg so I could not kick him again.

"Help!" I screamed out. "Somebody, please!"

That asshole started to lick my breasts. "C'mon, we're just having some fun, don't be like…"

"Hey, asshat! We told you to get your fucking hands off my sister!" Ronald and Ian grabbed him from behind and threw him across the alley.

But the drunk was now grinning angrily. "You shit-ass punks. Nobody interrupts my fun and just walks away from it!" He pulled a knife from his pocket.

Ian was now startled and raised his hands. "Whoa, take it easy, man, it doesn't have to be this wa- *gulp*!"

The drunk grunted, running and stabbing Ian in his abdomen and I covered my mouth in horror. "Ian! No!" Ian gulped and fell down on the dirty pavement, his shirt blooming red blood.

The drunk widened his eyes, realizing what had he done and his angered look then turned into a remorseful one but before he could open his mouth, Ronald snapped instantly, knocking the drunk on the ground and relentlessly punching him into his face until that drunk had bruised face all covered in blood, all knocked out.

I just covered my eyes in horror as I could not watch how Ronald was beating the man who tried to hurt his precious sister, I was just focused on stopping the bleeding on Ian's stomach.

" _You killed my sister's boyfriend! You are gonna fucking pay for that, you dick!_ "

The cops ran from the back door of the bar into the alley, arresting the drunk and restraining Ronald and calling an ambulance. Ronald was dragged into the police car and Ian luckily did not bleed out too much but his family requested that he would be hospitalized in Roseburg where his family was.

The tattooed guy gave me and Ronald a condescending glare when the drunk was arrested and I saw a look in his eyes that obviously said: " _You will hear from me one day again, this I swear!_ "

The drunk was sentenced to 10 years in jail without possibility of parole for a sexual assault and attempt at murder.

But after that… Ronald spent six months in juvie for aggravated assault, despite the fact that it was self-defense and he was in his right. After Ronald was released, he took some self-defense and bodyguard courses, later applying for a job as a security guard at Blackwell and he was one of the nicest, most fair and diligent, if not too harsh but not nearly as harsh as Madsen, guard in here. Everyone liked him. Well… everyone who was not for example a bully or a snob elitist bitch or an arrogant rich asshole secretly dealing drug.

Ian survived but he was in coma. I tried to visit him as much as possible but after a while… I just could not wait anymore, hoping that he would one day wake up and I could see him smile again.

I wrote letters and got replies from his family. After about a year he woke up but… I had moved on… I just did not see how can I look him into the eyes after all that… and start over again…

I've been having nightmares from that night sometimes and I've been doing my best to forget about it.

* * *

" _Aaah!_ "

I woke up in my room back in Blackwell together with Christine, all sweat on my face and my top and the sheet on my bed were totally wet as I was gasping.

"Was it the storm?" She asked me worryingly.

"No… worse."

"The drowning?" I did not even move.

"The bar?" I nodded finally and took my pills on my drawer I had prescribed in case of these nightmarish moments again.

"Jesus. I have not dreamt about that for a while now." I said after I swallowed a bottle of water.

Christine looked down for a moment. "After what happened yesterday and what you've told me and Ronnie, I guess I can't blame you for not being able to have a good sleep."

I exercised for the next 20 minutes press-ups and sit-ups, trying not to think about what had I dreamt about, before hitting the shower.

But when I walked out into the corridor I saw Kate crying and running to her room while Brooke and Juliet giggled from watching at Brooke's phone. _What is so funny?_

"Hey there."

"Abby. Christine." Brooke greeted us in between laughters.

"What are you watching there?" Christine asked them. "And why did Kate run off like that?"

"Uhh… well…" Juliet's face started to redden as she tried not to giggle, looking down in shame.

I peeked at the video and in a second I instantly recognized it. It was from the Vortex Club Party last Friday when Kate was so out of and kissed some random guys.

" _Oh, for the love of the Almighty… could you turn that shit off?_ " I covered the screen on Brooke's phone but Brooke defensively waved my hand off.

"Hey. You can't blame us for Kate being so hilarious her…" Brooke still laughed.

"She's going through more than enough crap already and you watching that shit is not really helping!" Christine scolded them.

"C'mon, it's funny and cute…" Juliet wanted to excuse their behavior.

"Depends on _point of view._ " I pointed at Kate's room.

Brooke giggled again. "She brought it on herself when she got so wasted, you can't blame us f…."

" _SAVE IT! JUST FUCKING CUT THAT BULLSHIT AND LISTEN TO ME, FOR CHRIST'S SAKES!_ " I snapped again and Brooke flinched, her glasses almost falling, both her and Juliet instantly shutting up and staring at me with shock.

" _I DON'T FUCKING CARE WHETHER IT WAS HER FAULT OR NOT! EVEN THOUGH I DOUBT IT WAS ALL ON HER, GOD DAMN IT!_ " I took a breath and I had to force myself not to lash out again and I tried to patiently give them the right words which they could contemplate about.

"Imagine if you were in her shoes. What do you think her family must be thinking about her _at this moment_? Her parents? Her siblings?

How would you feel if it was you on that video and everyone was making fun of _you_ and _your_ family was turning your back on you?" I glanced at both of them.

"You _know_ that Kate is one of the sweetest people around here and she would never, _ever_ , allow herself to get that drunk, she even made an abstinence campaign. _Kate Marsh_? A party girl? Really?" I said sarcastically.

 _Now I have to make the last words count._

"I don't give a shit to if it _even remotely looks like_ she was drunk, _the more_ you remind her _this crap_ ," I pointed at Brooke's phone. " _the more_ she's gonna feel terrible about herself and _in the end it's gonna eat her up from the inside out and whose fault is it gonna be, huh_?

 _Have you given any thought at all to what she must be going through right now_? _What she must be thinking about herself right now?_ _What is her own family thinking about her right now_?"

"Do you remember what did I have to go through after that affair with Cassie and Nathan? How they were all laughing at my face? How were some of our teachers disappointed at me? Just because I looked like Cassie?

Even the Principal said that Cassie was too emotional and she was without reason just throwing out accusations at _Nathan Prescott_ and attacked him because she was unstable and after that the Vortex Club made her life living hell and I did not have it any easier, with people around whispering that I conspired with Cassie against Nathan and those haughty assholes laughing at my face, just because I was her twin!

Have you given _any consideration at all_ to what Kate might be going through? Huh?"

That got them. Now Brooke and Juliet looked regretful and ashamed and Brooke looked down as she turned the phone off and put it into her pocket.

"That's what I thought." I scoffed. " _You two_ should really be _ashamed_ of _yourselves_ for watching _that shit near her_." I scolded them both raising my hand at them. "I swear to God, if I _ever_ see you _again_ making fun of her behind her back like that, I'm not gonna hold myself responsible." I gritted through my teeth.

Christine and I ran into the shower, before we would do something we would both regret as I turned on the water to extinguish the raging fire inside me.

In the evening I sneaked under Max's door a letter in which I filled her in on what happened to me yesterday and how did I have to tell our secret to Ronald and Christine.

"Hey." Christine greeted Max who was brushing her teeth.

"Hey. I overheard you two out there." Max smiled at me. "Thanks, I appreciate that I'm not the only one who has Kate's back." She pointed at the red smudged mirror.

"What is that?"

"What do you think?"

 _Is that a lipstick? Who would draw something on a mirror with a lipst… Of course. Victoria. The link to that God-damned video._

"God, how I hate that fucking bitch!" Christine sighed out.

"Max." I looked at her, hoping she would not be mad. "I know I wrote it to you already yesterday but… I just want to say I'm sorry… I really hope you are not mad at me for telling..."

Max just smiled at us. "No. I totally understand. I don't blame you."

Christine and I hugged Max instantly.

Max laughed and shook us off. "As a matter of fact, I also had another vision of the tornado yesterday evening and Chloe was there when I… blacked out. I also had to tell her everything. About me. And about you. And I heard you scream just now in your room, Abby." She looked worried about me.

"It's nothing, really." I waved my hand off and changed the subject. "So… Chloe knows that we both somehow…?"

"Time traveled? Yeah." Max nodded.

"How did you make her believe?" I smiled.

"She did not believe me at first but when it started to snow, she _actually_ started to listen." Max explained.

Christine smirked. "Huh. Just like us." She washed her face. "I still can't believe it, but I guess after the snow yesterday, I guess no one knows for certain what is real."

"I know it's a lot to take in and I don't blame you for being unnerved right now but… look, I can prove to you that we were not lying."

"How?" Christine asked skeptically.

"Do you have anything at the morning?"

"No, just drawing class in the noon. Other than that, nothing." Christine said.

"That's enough time, I hope." Max seemed glad. "Look, if you can, meet me and Chloe at _the Two Whale's Diner_ in an hour. And if you want, bring Ronnie too, please."

"I… I guess I've had enough of this school for this week anyway." I instantly remembered my outburst. "With all the crap we've been through yesterday, _the school_ is the last thing on my mind right now, y'know?

The nurse recommended me that I should rest anyway, Wells is not gonna be mad at me for dropping out, hopefully. Even he said that I should cut myself some slack for a few days."

"OK. I'll see you later, guys." Max smiled as I went into the shower, stripping off my top and my shorts and letting the water wash the sweat and the stress from my nightmare, while Max was brushing her teeth.

When I got out of the shower's room, Victoria and Taylor were just passing by me. I looked at them, not able to hide my hateful glare as they looked at me and Christine, at first startled but then giving us a condescending glare.

The fire inside me and Christine was building up slowly but I took a breath to calm down again but the same could not be told for Christine. I could swear that Victoria and Taylor flinched before Max and I grabbed Christine by her arms as she was about to jump at them.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, don't! Don't! It's not worth it, Chris! It's not worth it!" Max had a begging look and I gave Christine an understanding look while shaking my head.

 _Not here, not now._ I tried to say mentally.

Victoria made a face at us, showing out her tongue. Christine raised her hands, showing middle fingers at Victoria.

"Keep your dog on your leash, you lame-ass nerds." Victoria waved her hand as if a dirty freak tried to touch her.

Max and I dragged Christine before this would get out of hand as Victoria left the dorm. I knocked on Kate's room while Christine took her bag to go to the class and Max went to her room pick Kate's book she borrowed.

On Kate's slate there was a picture of a poop and a message "WILL BANG 4 JESUS".

 _Assholes._ I wiped the slate and draw there a picture of a bunny.

"Kate. It's Abby. Can I come in? I just wanna see if you're OK." I said softly but there was no answer. I knocked again. "Kate, please. I'm really worried about you. I can't even imagine what you must be going through right now but I'm trying to help you. Please. Talk to me. I don't want you to torture yourself like this."

Again no answer. I had to beg now. "I'm trying to be here for you but I can't help you unless you let me. Please, let me in, Kate. Whatever it is you're going through, you don't have to do it alone. _Open the door, Katie, please._ "

There was a silence for a few seconds before Kate opened the door.

"OK. Just a moment." I heard a weak voice and sniffing and when she opened the door, I was horrified by how did she look right now. _Was she crying? Uh, I swear to God, one of these days I'm gonna beat the shit out of Victoria for putting Kate through this hell._

"Oh my God." Kate's eyes were red and tears were streaming down her face like waterfall and she looked like if it was her last day today. "Kate, I'm so sorry." I hugged her tightly.

Kate tried to get a hold of herself and shook me off gently. "I… I'm fine, really."

"No. No, you're not. How you look like says otherwise."

The room was in the dark, the curtains covering the windows, a pile of clothes lying on the ground, her mirror covered with sheet. _She can't even look at herself? Holy God._

Kate's bin was full of wet tissues. _Jesus Christ._

I looked at the picture of Kate with her sisters in the park, smiling. I wish I could see Kate happy now.

Kate was leaning her head on her hands as she sat down. "Kate. Talk to me, please." I put my hand gently on her leg as I sat down. "Tell me what happened."

"Vic… Victoria and T-T-T-Taylor…"

The blood was now boiling inside of me. "Uh. Those skanks."

Kate nodded as she sniffed and wiped her tears. "Ever since that party and that awful video everyone's been making fun of me."

" _Not_ everyone, Kate." I tried to comfort her as I laid my hand on her shoulder.

"I know, Abby…" Kate sniffed. "I overheard you out there. Thank you for standing up for me back there and yesterday outside."

Max entered now with a book in her hand.

"Look. I'm not gonna pretend I have even the faintest idea about what you are going through right now but please, you have to realize that you are not alone in this. You can talk to me and Christine _and_ Max.

We're your friends, Kate and we care about you a lot. We're trying to help you."

"I know. I'm glad you two stood up for me yesterday when Mr. Madsen was at my face." Kate wiped her tears and I could see a smile on her face for a second.

"What was that even about? You didn't tell us." Max asked.

"He's a total paranoid ass! He thinks I'm a member of the Vortex Club. Yeah, right." Kate outburst in a moment of short anger.

"I assume he came to that conclusion because of that video?"

Kate nodded. "Please, tell me you did not watch it too." Kate was begging now, in her eyes complete despair.

"No." Max said and I just shook my head.

"We know it exists but I can assure you that neither of was wants to and is not going to." Max comforted Kate. "I mean, I've heard what is on that video but I refuse to believe, _I do not want to believe for even for a one second_ , that you would be able of something so disgusting or that you could get so drunk."

Kate suddenly remembered something and gave me a blaming look. "You were there too, Abby. Why didn't you stop me?"

That took me aback and I realized I could have done something back there.

"I… I… God, Kate, I'm so sorry… I… I… I didn't even see you drink so much, just… by the time I realized what you were doing, it was too late, everyone was already watching.

Kate, I swear, if I'd known earlier what was happening to you, I would have done something to stop you." I hugged her tightly, hurtful tears blurring my vision again as I started to sniff again and my voice was breaking down again.

"I know you're not an alcoholic, Katie and the very thought of that disgusts me but still… I saw what you did but I refuse to believe for a one second that you were drunk, _even if it remotely_ sees that way. Before I realized what you were doing and before I could do something…"

"I don't blame you, Abby." Kate smiled and there was a shine of hope in her tone now as she patted my back. "I'm glad that you're at least trying to have my back now, it's not your fault."

Max brought up something else as I let Kate go. "Kate… I'm sorry that I'm bringing this up but we need to understand what exactly happened. Why were you even at that party at the first place?"

"I didn't want to go at first but Dana convinced me. Said it would be fun." Kate snorted. "Yeah, everyone is laughing at me right now, God, now I wish I hadn't listened to her."

"Don't be like that, Kate, you could not have known what would happen and neither could Dana." I comforted her, still sniffing and wiping my tears. "So, Dana talked you into going there. I know it's hard for you but please, go on." I gently put my hand on her leg.

"I… just few moments after that… from what they told me, I ended up kissing a bunch of boys but I swear I don't remember any of that." Kate cried out.

"Did you even drink there at all?" Max asked.

"I had just one sip of wine. That's it, I swear."

"One sip of wine is definitely not enough alcohol to get so wasted. I drink wine from time to time too and even then just only a single glass of it. You might get a little dizzy after that but I'm sure no one would do this kind of stuff from that."

Kate nodded. "I drink a sip of wine at church and it has never happened to me there before."

Then it suddenly occurred to me... Nathan Prescott was at the party too and he _does_ sell drugs around there. And one glass of wine will not do that kind of stuff to you unless…

"I know this is a long shot but… is it possible that someone may have drugged you?"

Kate looked down, trying to remember, saying hesitantly. "I… I do remember feeling sick and dizzy…"

"What about Nathan Prescott? Did you see him there?"

"He…" Kate's pupils widened a bit now. "I remember that he said that he would take me to the hospital…"

 _Ha! I knew it! So you drugged her. Just you wait, you fucking bastard._

Max exclaimed. "Nathan Prescott? Oh shit!"

"Yeah." I nodded. "I saw him there too… no offense, Kate but if _Nathan Prescott_ was there and _he_ took you out of that party and promised you to take to the hospital, then I'm 100% sure _he_ was not taking you there really.

Whatever he promised you, it was a total bullshit – excuse my language."

"Oh, dear Lord…" Kate was covering her face again, doing her best not to break down again.

"So Nathan promised to take you to the hospital. What do you remember next?"

"Just… that I was in a car… for a long time… then… a room… it was so bright and white I thought it was a hospital…"

Max urged Kate. "Go on. We're listening. Don't worry, we believe you every single word."

"Somebody was talking to me in a soft voice… I thought it was a doctor… until I heard Nathan and felt a sharp sting in my neck… and… and…" Kate's voice was breaking down again, not being able to go on.

"You don't remember or you don't want to talk about it anymore?" I said gently, not wanting to press it.

"That's all I remember! I woke up outside my dorm the next day. I didn't have any marks or bruises but I felt gross."

Max asked hesitantly. "So… who took that video of you at the party?"

I snorted and looked at Max. "Who do you think?"

"Aww… Victoria…." Max swat her face in realization.

Kate nodded. "Yeah, she was being there her mean self."

"I'm gonna kill her, I swear to God she's gonna pay for that." The blood was boiling inside me again.

Max's phone rang as she checked it. " _Chloe._ Look, Kate, we gotta go now but if you ever need to talk to either of us, we're both one call away, I promise."

"Thanks, girls. You can put my book here, in my bag, Max."

I was already on the doorstep before I heard Kate's voice behind me again. "Wait… before you go… can I ask you two a question? And please be honest."

"Absolutely."

"Of course, Kate. Anything."

Kate was scared and was hesitating. "I need to know if Nathan Prescott helped me… or hurt me after that party." Kate looked down for a moment before she looked into our eyes again. "Should I go to the police?"

I was surprised by that question and thought about that. _Nathan's family owns this town and his father has a lot of people in his pockets from what I heard. He might call in some favors so that everyone would keep quiet about it._

"Kate… I… I'm not sure if that's a good idea. I mean, that video does not exactly back you up and don't forget that it's _Nathan Prescott_ we are talking about. He has money.

Who do you think they are going to believe?"

Kate cried out desperately. "So you're telling me that I should just walk down the hall every day so that everyone can make a fun of me and laugh at my face?"

"I'm not saying that you should not go to the police but if you do that… look, tell them that you believe that you were drugged and that you don't remember much _but don't_ say a word about Nathan Prescott being involved.

The _very_ second you do that, you're done and they will do nothing for you, understand? Though there may be some good people _who will actually listen to you_ , no matter what, we can't afford to take that chance."

"We promise you, we'll help you figure this out and fix it. You're not alone in this and we have your back."

"We're even gonna back you up at the police station if you want. We can vouch for you and tell them that you are not like that on that video."

Kate nodded and was relieved finally as Max patted her on her shoulder. Max and I gave Kate a tight hug.

"Thank you. It means a lot that you are trying to help me and that you have my back."

"You're like our sister, Kate. Of course we have your back."

Max's pocket buzzed as she laughed. "OK, we really gotta go. See you later, Kate."

"Bye." Max and I walked out of her room.

"Chloe's gonna freak out if we're late."

"I'll text Ronald and Christine to meet us at the diner."

We were about to go to the car park when I heard the music from Dana's room and I saw Dana dancing on her bed.

Max and I entered the cheerleader's room who was wearing her pajamas.

I whistled. "Wow, someone's really putting his energy into waking up."

"Hey, Abby. Are you feeling better?" She smiled at me and looked concerned.

"I'm good now, really."

"We heard you screaming in your room fifteen minutes ago and how you lashed out on Juliet and Brooke... That doesn't sound like " _good_ "." Dana was unconvinced. _Crap. They all must have heard it._

I sighed. "The nightmare wasn't about the drowning, Dana, and _no_ , I don't wanna talk about it. In fact, I've been doing my best trying to forget about it.

And as for Juliet and Brooke… you can't blame me for defending my friend."

Dana nodded in understanding. Everyone around here knew about how that bastard Kevin Chark tried to rape me and almost killed Ian and Dana loved Kate as much as Max and I do.

Max changed the subject. "Is everything cool between you and Juliet?"

"Yeah, thank you two for yesterday for releasing me from her captivity and tell Christine I'm glad that she taught Victoria and her bitches a lesson.

And by the way, the best and biggest news of today is that Trevor asked me to the Halloween shindig."

I opened my mouth widely. "He what _now_? Oh my God, that's awesome, Dana!" I hugged Dana. She smiled and shook me off gently.

"I know! We're gonna be out there in public… so are you two and Chris coming? You could borrow Max some of your outfits, Abs while she goes with her geeky bitch, Warren. Don't let your life pass you up, Max."

"Me maybe. Chris… I'm not so sure with her… and considering what had happened to Kate at the last party… and who did invite her there in the first place?" Dana again nodded in understanding, as her smile dropped. "No, I didn't mean anything like that, I don't blame you for that… I just don't want this to happen to anyone again, that's it."

Dana tried to smile again but this time it wasn't as brightful as before. "It's cool, I get it."

Max crossed her arms and was thinking for a moment. _Max and Vortex Club party? Considering what had happened to Kate and Cassie… I don't know…_

"And you, Max?" Dana looked at her.

"Dana… I don't wanna this to turn out the same way it did with Cassie and Kate but… why the fuck not? If I hate it, I can always go back to my room." Max relaxed.

"That's the spirit, Max!" Dana was excited again. "After this you'll be ready to rave."

"We should go. We got a reunion with some old friends." I smiled, leaving Dana's room. "See you later."

"Bye."


	6. Episode 2: Out of Time - Part 2

_**Episode 2: Out of Time - Chapter 2**_

I was sitting with Max and Christine and my brother at our table in _Two Whale's Diner_. We still came here from time to time after William had passed, having some coffee or breakfast but when Chloe went down the rebellious path and ran away from Joyce for a while, I could not force myself to talk about Chloe with Joyce, she was so disappointed by her daughter. But I can understand both sides so I guess there's no one to blame really.

"So… are you gonna show us your power, Super Max?" Ronald smiled at Max.

"We're still waiting on Chloe."

Joyce came to our booth in her waiter's dress and greeted us with her good old Southern accent.

"Well, well, well… Maxine Caulfield and Abigail and Ronald Powell. My, my, you are sight for sore eyes. You grew up, kids." She filled our mugs with coffees.

"It's good to see you again, Joyce." Max smiled. "It's good to be back here, together." She turned to us.

Joyce then noticed Christine. "And may you introduce me to your friend?"

I pointed at Joyce and Christine. "Oh, yeah. Joyce, this is my friend and roommate Christine, Chris, this is Joyce. Chloe's mother. We grew up together."

"It's nice to meet you in person." Christine shook Joyce's hand. "Abby talked a lot about how did they all play with Chloe when they were kids."

Max and I instantly looked remorseful as Max weakly sheeped out. "Joyce, I… I'm so sorry about William and how did we leave. It was all so sudden I didn't even have a chance to really tell you how sorry I was."

"I know I should have been there more for Chloe but… I guess I did not know what to do with her, considering how much she had changed. I tried but… she did not make it easy on any of us."

"I know." Joyce nodded. "It was hard for everyone how Chloe kept making problems. I can't blame you for keeping your distance. She was so angry even I was despaired sometimes."

"We know we weren't there for her when we should have but we are here now. Everyone. We are trying to make it up to her." I said, almost begging like a hungry dog.

"Chloe will come around." Joyce comforted me. "Just… be yourselves and take it easy on her…"

"We'll try." Ronald smiled, remembering how he busted Chloe fighting in the corridor at Blackwell last year and how she almost hit him accidentally.

"So… what is it gonna be? Free meal for you, since you're all here together after all those years."

Ronald smiled. "I'd like your bacon and omelettes which you used to cook for us, just for old times sakes."

"Same here." I agreed.

"Me too. I missed them." Max added.

"I'll just have a mug of coffee, if you won't mind. I already ate." Christine shook her hand politely.

Joyce came later with three plates of bacon and omellettes. We all enjoyed the meal, letting it sink in and remembering how we all had breakfast at the dining room at Chloe's place when we were kids.

"Wowsers… I forgot how good that was..." Max said after swallowing.

"I'm glad you like it, kids. I haven't seen you gulp it so quickly in a long time, Ronald…" She looked at my brother, smiling how could Ronald eat so quickly like a pig sometimes when we were smaller as Max and Ronald giggled and Christine looked a little disgusted.

I heard the bell ring at the entrance and saw a girl with blue hair and beanie entering. I waved my hand. "Chloe! Over here!"

Chloe ran to our cabin. "Hi Super Max! Hey, guys! Whatcha doing here?" She probably did not expect to see me or my brother or Christine.

"Chloe… _they_ know." Max explained.

Chloe widened her eyes as she looked at me. "Wait a minute, _you_ can rewind time too, right?"

I shook my head. "No. I don't have what Max does. I mean… I _can_ go back with her but I don't know how or why… I don't know what it is and I don't have any control over it. I just know that whatever Max has, it does not affect me."

 _Should I tell them about my nightmare I had this morning? No, this is more than enough on their plate already._

"Max… you do realize that what you _think_ you and Abby have is… improbable at best. But when Abby told us about that tornado dream and after the dream, I honestly don't know for sure what should I believe in anymore." Ronald said patiently, trying to get the facts straight.

"I wanna proof you can rewind time, c'mon, dude!" Chloe said excited, banging on the table lightly.

"Chloe, no offense, but you're kinda rushing it." I laid my hand on her shoulder.

"Alright. No problem. We'll start slow. Right here. Right now." Chloe relaxed.

Max and I looked at each other and Max had an idea. "How about you show us what do you have in your pockets. Then I will rewind and Abby and I will tell you what is it in there."

Chloe, Ronald and Christine emptied their pockets.

Chloe had some change, a parking ticket, a packet of cigarettes and a panda keychain.

Ronald had a wallet, in there was his security guard ID, his normal ID card and his driving license and some 10 dollar bills, a pack of _Orbit_ chewing gums in which were just two now, a taser and a pepper sprayer of courses and a cellphone.

Christine had only in her pockets her phone and a wallet in which was a photo of her and Cassie at the beach. Cassie and Christine were wearing paired bikinis and behind them were couple of guys playing volleyball.

Max and I looked at all the stuff, trying to memorize every single detail. Then Max looked at me. "Ready?"

I nodded.

 ** _~oOo_**

Max started. "So, we can tell you what do everyone of you have in your pockets. Chloe, you've got some change. 86 cents, to be exact."

Chloe smiled. "That' right, living rich at Arcadia Bay!" _I missed how cool she can be._

"A parking ticket from yesterday." I added.

"Of course I have a parking ticket." Chloe looked at me like " _Really?_ "

"And they busted you on 10:34." I smiled at her.

"Boom! Abby and Max – the talking clock."

"A cute robot panda keychain."

"And seven cigarettes."

Now I turned to my brother and my best friend. I told them they did not have much stuff in their pockets and I told them the contents.

They all emptied their pockets again and were shocked to see that Max and I described every single detail of what they have.

"That's… impressive. And a bit scary, I'll admit." Ronald widened his eyes with amazement. "But this could be some kind of magic trick. You're gonna have to do better than that to make me believe that you can go back in time."

I wiped my hand. "Maybe we should try a different approach, Max. I have an idea." I whispered to Max that we should tell them what is going to happen in the next few moments. Max nodded and we observed.

The trucker's mug fell off the counter and Joyce berated him. "Really, another cup? No refill for you!"

I saw Officer Berry talking on the radio. "Great, now I have to leave my breakfa…" Berry looked around. "Hey, where's my partner?" I heard the sirens outside passing by us.

Next, I saw Trevor and Justin make the scene.

"Don't slap me, bitch!"

Joyce came to them berating them. "Take your fight club outside!"

"He started it!"

"I'm finishing it!"

Ronald sighed. "I wish I had to deal with it just back at work."

Then I saw a jukebox turn on and on it was climbing a cockroach.

 ** _~oOo_**

Max smiled and tried to imitate a performer's tone. " _So we have a skeptical non-believer in an audience. Alright, young man, if you do not believe in my magic, maybe I can make you believe by predicting the future. I shall tell you what will happen in the next 30 seconds._ "

Ronald and Christine leaned in closer as we got their full attention.

"First, the trucker drops his mug as Joyce comes by him and she scolds him."

"Next, the cop at the counter… is that Berry?" I recognized him. He was one of the cops who busted that drunk fucker Kevin Chark after he almost raped me and tried to kill Ian. "Never mind. He gets an emergency call during his breakfast and his partner leaves without him."

"Justin and Trevor gets into an argument and Joyce berates them."

The following prediction must have been the most unbelievable. "And then the jukebox goes crazy as a cockroach jumps on it."

"OK. Let's see if everything happens the way you tell it." Ronald said, patiently looking around. And everything did happen the way Max and I saw. Chloe, Ronald and Christine widened their eyes in amazement when they saw the cockroach on the jukebox.

"Oh. My. God." Christine smiled like if she had seen a miracle and Chloe imitated kneeling to the idol.

"We pledge allegiance to our friends Max and Abby and to the power for which they stand…"

I reddened and poked Chloe. "Chloe, stop, please. You're making a scene." I had to giggle in embarrassment.

"How is that even possible? Why do you two have these powers? I mean, why is it not affecting you, Abby?" Ronald asked. I noticed that this is the first time in a while he used abbreviation of my name.

"I wish I knew the answer, Ronald."

"OK, we know that _theoretically_ time travel might be possible but for someone to _actually_ have the power to go back in time… this is some next-level science shit." Christine tried to speculate. "This is so unnatural."

"Who knows? Maybe we'll figure it out one day but… I don't think this is the time to speculate now…" Something caught Ronald's attention now. "Max. Your nose is bleeding."

We all now looked at Max worryingly. "Max. Are you OK?"

Max wiped off the blood from her nose relaxed. "I… it's nothing, really."

"It doesn't seem like _nothing_ to me, Max. I knew there had to be more to that power of yours than just simply going back in time." Ronald was slowly freaking out. "Look. This is serious. Whatever it is, I'm sure you have your powers for a reason. I don't know why yet but…

You have some purpose now, Maxine. You can't just waste _this_ on silly jokes and preventing petty misfortunes."

Chloe tried to chill out. "Why not joke around? It can be fun when…"

" _Chloe._ Ronald's right, this is serious." Christine glared at her. "You can't just screw around with… whatever it is you have. What if one day something bad happens and Max can't prevent it anymore?

We gotta be careful with that."

Chloe looked frightened right now. "OK, OK. I get it."

I went to the counter to get some snacks then I felt my pants buzz as I took out the cellphone. It was Kate. I pressed ANSWER as I turned around seeing Max and Chloe arguing with Joyce.

"Hey, Kate. Is everything OK?"

Kate sounded a lot happier now but still there was a hint of sadness in her voice. " _Hey, Abby. I… I just wanted to hear you. You said if I needed to talk to you or Max…_ "

"I know. I know. I'm glad you called. I'm just… be glad you're not calling Max right now. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's just that right now she's not having the good time either but remember that we're here for you, Katie.

Look, if you need to get something off your chest, we're all at your disposal. I'm right here with Ronald and Christine." I poked Christine and Ronald and opened my mouth whispering _Kate on the phone, she needs some support._

Ronald and Christine greeted Kate with caring tone. "Hey Kate. We really hope you're gonna get through this. We can help you if you need us."

"We believe you, Katie. Don't worry. I don't give a shit to what is on that video, we're all here for you. Just remember that you're not alone."

There was silence for a moment before Kate talked again and I heard sniffing. "… _Thank you. It means a lot that you're all here for me._ "

The argument Max and Chloe had with Joyce was about to end. "OK, I gotta go now but remember, Max and I and Ron and Chris are just one call away if you need to talk. Don't worry. We love you, Kate. Bye-bye."

" _Bye, Abby._ " Kate hung off.

I went to the door when Joyce calmed down and left Chloe and Max alone.

"What was that about?"

"Something that wouldn't have to happen if the _two_ of you had my back." Chloe glared at me.

"Chloe…" Max looked at her.

"I'm sorry... it's just… a friend of ours is in a tight spot now and she needs some support."

"Fine. Take some time with your _other_ friends while avoiding me, again!" Chloe stretched her arms offended.

"Chloe, please…" Max held Chloe's hand, in her eyes begging look and Chloe noticed that everyone was slowly looking at us.

Chloe sighed and calmed down. "Sorry, I just… it's fine, Abs, forget about it." She waved her hand coolly.

"No harm done, don't worry." I smiled. We all went out while Ronald noted. "Sometimes it still seems like you are the same little moody joker that kept hiding my stuff and I had to interrogate all of you." He glanced at Max and Chloe and me and we all giggled.


	7. Episode 2: Out of Time - Part 3

_**Episode 2: Out of Time - Chapter 3**_

 _Flashback - Blackwell Academy – Vortex Club Party, 2012_

I was with Christine and her twin sister Cassie at the swimming pool at Blackwell Academy, having some fun, while I was talking to the others and Christine was dancing with some guys, Cassie was just taking some punch and contemplating until a scrawny guy with a red jacket approached her. The rich, spoiled asshole, Nathan Prescott, with two glasses in his hands.

"Hey there." Nathan politely greeted Cassie who smiled back.

"Hi."

"Enjoying the party? I put a lot of effort into this." Nathan waved his hands around.

Cassie shrugged her shoulders. "It's fine, I guess. Just… I kinda feel out of their league." She looked around.

"You need to relax, babe." Nathan smiled politely and offered a hand to Cassie. "What's your name?"

"Cassie"

"Hey. I'm…"

"Nathan Prescott, I know. You kinda have a rep around here."

"Yeah." Nathan chuckled. "So, wanna drink?"

Cassie looked down at the glasses. She knew exactly what kind of reputation and what kind of an ass Nathan Prescott is and politely refused. "Thank you but no. I've drank enough tonight."

Nathan insisted. "At parties like these, there's no such things as drinking enough."

Cassie waved her hand. "Really, _please_ , don't." She knew better than to accept something from the likes of Nathan Prescott.

Nathan was slowly losing patience as he started to grin. "I don't like when people say " _no_ " to me."

Cassie raised her hand, backing off and not wanting to provoke him. "Alright. I guess one more glass will not hurt."

Nathan smiled at that. "That wasn't so hard, wasn't it?"

But the moment Cassie tasted the punch, she knew it was not supposed to taste like this and that there must have been something else in it.

Cassie instantly spat it out and looked angrily at Nathan. "What the hell, man? That's not a normal punch, what is this shit?"

Nathan tried to play innocent, not that he was really good at the act. "I did not do anything with it. Maybe you just don't have good taste…"

"Cut the crap! I know _exactly_ who you are, Nathaniel Prescott." Cassie splashed the punch on Nathan. "Stay the fuck away from me, you asshole!" She was about to walk away when Nathan grabbed her by the wrist very angrily.

"You don't get to tell me what to do, you bitch!" Nathan slapped Cassie on her face so hard, a few seconds later her cheek was going red and Cassie was doing her best not to cry as she was gasping in pain now as she shoved him. The yelling got everyone's attention.

"I offer you a drink and you get so emotional now?" Nathan yelled out over the entire place.

Christine and I overheard the yelling and came to Cassie.

"Hey! Leave my sister alone!" Christine said angrily and she looked with concern at her twin sister. "Cassie. What happened?"

Nathan was offended now and raging out. "All I did was give her a drink and she accuses me of…"

"I wasn't asking you, asshole!" Christine gave Nathan a glare that I could swear could kill if she was gonna be more agitated.

"Your sister is so emotional, you know that?" Nathan was backing off offended.

"And you are so full of shit, you spoiled brat!" I spat at Nathan. _Like if I was gonna buy that it was just a drink, when you sell drugs around here._ "Just leave her alone, please!" I waved at Nathan.

For a moment it looked like Nathan was gonna attack all three of us but he knew better than that. He then walked away. "You're gonna regret that!" He shouted before leaving us.

"Are you, OK, Cassie?" Christine and I caressed Cassie's cheek as we walked her to the bench.

Cassie was now shedding tears. "That fucker." She didn't know whether to feel hurt or angry now. "I wasn't gonna drink it but it just looked like a bad idea to turn down Nathan. I should have known better."

Victoria came to us, mocking Cassie. "You should control your temper. It was just a drink, Cassie. Or was it Christine?"

I stood up angered. "You are the last person right now we need to get fucked over from."

"Nathan was just offering you a dr…"

"Do you really think that we would accept a drink from _Nathan Prescott?_ " I was whispering close to Victoria's ear.

"You are really paranoid." Victoria shook her head disgusted and left.

"At least these assholes will leave you alone now, Cassie." Christine gave her sister a loving hug and kissed her on her head.

But unfortunately, this was not over. Nathan sued Cassie and even the Principal reprimanded her. It was the entire Vortex Club against us, a fight we could not win.

Everyone was harassing Cassie when she was labeled later as an emo queen and Nathan also made sure that some of the teachers would not make it easy either on Cassie or on Christine due to the fact of being twins – too much homework, higher requirements and criteria and constant criticism on petty details on their work.

Even though she had some support from me, Chrstine and her friends, in the end it was too much on Cassie and she could not take it anymore so a few weeks later Cassie dropped out and moved back with her parents and Christine hasn't had it any easier ever since.

I was with Ronald, Christine, Max and Chloe now in the junkyard, telling them why exactly do we hate Nathan Prescott.

* * *

"Holy shit. He really tried to hit on her?" Chloe was… thrilled by the story while Max was… I guess the most suitable word is… _disturbed_.

"Nathan wasn't good Casanova, if I'm being honest." Christine joked and it made us laugh for a moment.

"Well… at least your sister knew better than to accept a drink from that prick. Or maybe she just did not need his money." Chloe smiled a bit.

"Chloe…" Max scolded her.

"Ow… dick move, sorry."

Ronald looked around. "So… this is where you like to spend time when you're bored."

"Yup. My home away from hell. Well, it was _our_ home away from hell. American Rust." Chloe grinned now a bit. Apparently she really cared about Rachel.

"Raw and rough." Max noted. "How fitting for you."

"Do you guys know how awesome this is?" Chloe was excited now. "I have my best friends back and _the most introverted_ of them is almost supersized?"

"Who knows for how long, Chloe?" Ronald was again being serious.

"Exactly why it's time to have some fun." Chloe was relaxed and chilled. I had to smile. _She hasn't changed one bit, hasn't she?_

"Not that I'm not happy to hang around with you, guys but… what _exactly_ are we gonna do here?" Christine was confused when Chloe pulled out a gun and we all got startled.

"Chloe, what the hell?" I was scared to death now. "After what almost happened _yesterday_? Put that thing back!"

"Yeah, it freaks me out that you have a gun, Chloe." Max was also backing off.

"You don't trust me?" Chloe asked.

"I wanna trust you, Chloe…" Ronald said carefully. "…but I have a policy of being _very_ careful around people with guns." He pointed at his taser gun in pocket in his jacket.

"C'mon, one gun is nothing against what Max has. We could be hella unstoppable."

"Chloe! This isn't a toy!" Max freaked out.

"Just kidding." Chloe smirked. She offered us a bottle. "Drink?"

"Yuck."

"No thanks."

"Uh-uh."

"Not interested, sorry."

"Hm-hm. You have not changed much, guys." I'm honestly glad Chloe is happy now after a while. "Could you find some bottles while I prepare the shooting range?"

"Booze _and_ guns? Really, Chloe?" Ronald raised his brows and crossed his arms.

"C'mon, if something bad happens, Max can always rewind."

"Too much faith in something abnormal is harmful, Chloe." I noted.

Chloe took a plank. "Chill out, we'll be careful."

We all snorted and laughed out again. _Chloe and careful. Yeah, right._

Max helped Chloe set up the shooting range while the rest of us collected the bottles. Man, it was kinda like looking for a needle in a haystack.

"This sounds like a really bad idea." Christine muttered.

"Believe me, I don't like this anymore than you do." I agreed. "But you know how Chloe is. Once she makes up her mind, there's no talking her out of it. Especially when she's wasted."

"Yup." Ronald nodded.

Inside a half-demolished brick hut I found graffitis, posters, blankets, chair, tables, old Vortex Club and concert flyers, ashtray full of cigarettes etc.

 _Looks like Chloe's and Rachel's spot._

"Guys. You need to see this." I called Ronald and Christine and Max. "Max! Come here. I need you here for a second."

"Wow." Ronald looked around. "I always wondered how does Chloe spend time here."

"She must have really loved her." Max noted as she picked up a CD labeled ‚Rachel Songs' in Chloe's handwriting.

"We could have been here with her, Max." I didn't even feel how the tears were falling from my cheeks again. _Now I wish I hadn't given up on Chloe._

"We're all here now, Abby. That's what matters." Ronald laid his hand on my shoulder.

"Your brother is right." Christine agreed. "Now's our chance to make it all up to her."

"Let's get back before Chloe notices something's off."

I quickly wiped the tears and prepared the shooting range with Ronald.

"Ready?" Max asked Chloe.

Chloe nodded, so wasted. "Let's do this."

"If no one gets hurt, I'm seriously gonna believe in miracles." Ronald commented.

And I have to admit, I was impressed at first. Chloe used only four bullets eventually, with Max rewinding and me and her navigating Chloe's aim and helping her with two trickshots. One ricocheted from a wheel rim and hit the fourth bottle while the other one… it hit the tire of a broken car and it smashed the rest of the bottles as it fell from a pile of junk.

Nobody got hurt in the end but Max had to use one rewind though when Chloe tried to shoot the car bumper and it ricocheted, hitting Christine in her arm. We all got freaked out a lot before the rewind.

"Ubercool! My best friends are superheroes!" Chloe was excited while Max was slowly collapsing and her nose started to bleed again.

"I don't… I don't feel so super…"

"Max! Are you OK?" Ronald looked at her with concern as he came to her. He gave Max a tissue to wipe her nose. She passed out a moment later and woke up about a minute or so later…

Chloe was relieved now. "Jesus, you scared the shit out of us."

"How long…"

"Just a few moments. But it felt like an eternity…"

"You feel any better?" Christine asked Max.

"I'll be fine. Really." Max tried to get up while stumbling and Ronald and Chloe held her.

"Whoa, easy, easy…"

"Thanks."

"Well, I'll admit this was kinda fun. But no offense, Chloe, but we kinda have some other plans for today too and our own lives." Christine smiled. "I hope you won't mind if we lea..."

"Sure, sure." Chloe said calmly. At least she's not freaking out on us anymore. "And you, Max?"

"I… I'm not feeling like going anywhere right now. Maybe later."

"Look after her, Chloe. Please." I held Chloe's shoulder.

"She's not getting hurt. Not on my watch. Man, I wish Rachel was here with all of us."

Christine was surprised. "You really think she would have been friends with _all of us_?"

"Yeah. You would have loved her, Max." I saw a look in Chloe's eyes. That look… it was the same Ian had when he used to look at me.

Rachel wasn't just a friend to Chloe, no… she was _way more_ than that. She _really loved_ her.

"For what it's worth, we all wanna be here for you. I know we _cannot_ replace her but we really want to see you happy, Chloe." Ronald comforted her, again playing _the dutiful big brother role_.

"Thanks, Ronnie." Chloe tried to hold back tears.

"See you later. Bye." He kissed her on her forehead. But as we walked away from the junkyard, we saw a familiar face. The tattooed guy from few years back. The friend of Kevin Chark, that rapist shit.

Frank Bowers, an alleged drug dealer. I think I saw his RV outside the diner this morning. From what I heard, he also can be really dangerous. He even sold Chloe some weed too a couple of times.

A chill went through my spine as Ronald stepped in front of me and Christine all protective. I really hope he does not recognize us. But…

"Well, well, well… I hear gunshots at junkyard and guess who shows up… Ronald Powell." He gives my brother a despising look. "You made a big mistake, messing with my friend few years back."

"He started it and he almost killed _my_ friend." Ronald stood his ground stoically.

"I'll admit – he went out of line but I don't like people who hurt people I care about."

Ronald inhaled, calming down. "I've got no problem with you now. So please, tell me what the fuck do you want, Frank? I swear, if you even touch my sister…"

"Calm down… I'm just hanging around here, that's it." I got a better look on his bracelet.

 _No way! It can't be… Why does Frank has Rachel's bracelet? Oh, if Chloe sees him wearing it, he's a dead man. We should head ba… though Chloe has a gun and Max and her power… they can handle it… right?_

He then gave me a sympathetic look. "Despite what you may think, I'm not a hungry pig, sweetheart. I don't wanna hurt you so you don't have to be afraid of me." He tried to gently put his hand on my shoulder. Ronald was gonna pull out his taser but Christine held his hand and shook her head, not wanting for my brother to do anything rash.

"Look… I know you're a good kid and I'm sorry for what happened to you. For what it's worth, I'm sorry for what happened back there and I wish I could have done more to prevent it."

 _I really did not see that coming. For a lowlife thug, he's a gentle soul._

"I… thank you. I really hope you mean it." I said surprised.

"Back then, maybe I would not have… but believe me when I say I'm trying to be better than that." Frank had genuine, caring tone now.

Ronald eased up, also surprised when we left the junkyard. In his eyes was a look that said. " _Did this really happen?_ "

Christine headed back to Blackwell while I went back home with Ronald but when I opened the door, somebody was waiting inside already. It were not our parents, no… it was someone I had not seen in a while and to be honest, I did not think I would ever see him again.

"Hey, Abby. I missed you. It… it's been a long time." I missed his gentle voice.

Ronald was surprised but I… I was… speechless… inside me was building up a mix of emotions – nostalgia, sadness, guilt as from my cheeks were streaming tears.

"Ian…"


	8. Episode 2: Out of Time - Part 4

_**Episode 2: Out of Time - Chapter 4**_

"Ian… how… what are you doing here?" I could not catch my breath.

"You're not happy to see me?" My ex-boyfriend who almost died sounded disappointed.

"What… I… of course, I… it's just…"

"You just did not pick the best time to visit, bro." Ronald smiled at him as he hugged his old friend. "Not that we mind."

"Hey, Ron. Good to see you too." Ian turned his attention to my brother. I looked at them… it feels like yesterday when we were all together.

Ian and Ronald and I sat to the table as I wiped my tears. Ronald picked bottles of soda from the fridge.

"What brings you back to Arcadia Bay?"

"I just… it's been a long time since I saw the two of you…"

"Three years." I gasped out. "Ian, I'm sorry…"

"It's alright, Abby. I would not expect you to stand by me when I'd wake up. Though I appreciated the letters." He waved his hand relaxed. I missed how he was more cool than my brother.

"So… how's it going, man?" Ronald was drinking his coke.

"After I woke up and read the letters, I knew you two still cared about me. Folks and brother and sister were so freaked out, they would not let me move one step out of town from them, so I kept sending emails and calling instead.

I would have come back to Arcadia Bay but when I read about Rachel Amber…"

"I see." I nodded. He kissed me on my cheek and rubbed my hair.

"Have you met somebody else interesting while I was out, Abs?"

"I… no. Are you kidding? I still have nightmares from that night. I made some friends here but… I mean… there were some one-night stands a few times but… no serious commitment, if that's what you're asking."

Ian just chuckled as he fondled my hair. "I missed how awkward you were, Abby."

"So… what are you gonna do here, man?" Ronald put his bottle on the table.

"Besides catching up with my best friends here?" He smiled. "I don't know yet… but I'm not gonna stay here for long."

"Why not?"

Ian shrugged his shoulder. "Bad memories here, I guess. You know that I even set myself up already. I've got a shop with music instruments now in Milwaukee, remember?" Ronald and I nodded.

"You could come with me, guys. Though I will understand if you wanna stay because you have friends here." There was something in his eyes, I could tell.

"Ian… what are you not telling us?" Ronald noticed that look too.

"Ian. What's going on?" I put my hand on his leg.

Ian whispered something. "… I'm not proud of it." In his eyes was guilt as he looked down.

"Ian. We can help you. Please." I noticed his hands were shaking as he hesitated to talk.

"When I woke up… I wasn't the same guy anymore, Abby. I… had prescribed pills but I ran out of money quickly… so I hooked up with… not very nice people."

"You're an _addict_?" I was shocked.

"No. Not anymore… I went into detox for a few months after it was over that but… I owed money… a lot… I tried to earn it the right way but they kept increasing the interest… eventually they wanted me to do some nasty shit, so I snapped and…" Ian was slowly breaking down and crying.

"What have you done, Ian?"

"They threatened to _go after you and Ronald_!" He cried out. "I couldn't handle the thought of what they might do to you so I… I…" He covered his face in shame as he started to cry.

"Jesus, Ian…" Ronald was now looking at him with pity.

"I called the cops first but they were not dumb. They realized I set them up and… it was life or death…"

"So you..." _I'd never expect Ian to do something like that but… he was just protecting me._

"" _It was just self-defense_ ", they said and that's what have I been telling myself to feel better but it doesn't make it any easier." Ian just nodded. "I keep seeing their faces…

I know you two were afraid to see me again but I was _ashamed_ of myself. I thought you'd never see me the same way you used to ever again. I just couldn't… couldn't handle the thought. Even my family is not looking at met he same way they used to. They understand but…

Please…" His eyes were going red and filling with tears. " _Please, don't hate me. I'd understand if you'd be ashamed of me._ "

"Ian… I…" _I don't wanna hate you but… I don't know if I do love you anymore._ "If I'd been in the same spot as you were, I might have done the same thing." I put my hand on his shoulder. "I still care about you and whatever happened back then, it's left behind.

What matters is that you're back. But… don't take this personally but like Ronald said, you did not pick the best time. We… kinda have a lot on our plate right now."

Ian stopped sniffing and calmed down as I went to make a tea for all of us.

When he drank from the mug, my ex-boyfriend asked me. "So… what's been happening in here?"

Ronald talked. "It's… it's a long story and a complicated one. You know, we've been catching up with our childhood fr…" But then he looked at his watch. "I should head back to work, we'll catch up later, I promise."

"I'm coming with you, Ronald." I kissed Ian on his cheek and fondled his hair. "I'm glad that you're back here but right now I have to deal with a lot of shit. The food's in the fridge, I hope you're not mad that I..."

"I understand." Ian nodded and smiled. "I'm not going anywhere anyway. I hope the circumstances will be better."

* * *

Ronald brought me back to campus when I saw Chloe's truck and Chloe and Max were talking together. I knocked on the window.

"Hey."

"Hey, guys." Chloe smiled at us.

"Is everything OK?" Ronald asked them but Chloe and Max looked awkwardly at each other. When we were kids, we looked at each other like that only if one of us did something _really_ stupid.

I was serious now. "What happened? And _don't_ bullshit us."

After about two seconds of silence Chloe calmly replied. "Nothing Max could not handle."

"That's not an answer, Chloe."

"We'll talk about that later, OK?" Max raised her hand.

Ronald gave Max and Chloe an interrogating glare. "This would not have anything to do with Frank Bowers, does it?"

Max and Chloe flinched.

Ronald sighed. "What happened?"

"How do you know ab…"

"Because we saw him coming into the junkyard when we left." Ronald was concerned now. "Chloe? What happened?"

Max said convincingly. "Not now, guys. We'll talk about that later. Let's just say that he'll leave us alone for a few days."

Chloe gave Max a blaming glance before she turned her attention to us.

 _What have you gotten yourselves into this time, guys?_

"And you, Abby? You look a little… disturbed now." Max was worried now about me again.

"… * sigh *… Ian… he's back."

Max and Chloe were both surprised.

"What?"

"Really?"

"That's awesome!"

"Did you two…"

I had to interrupt them. "Girls, hey, hey! I… I was happy to see him again, yeah but… you have to agree he kinda picked a shitty timing."

Max and Chloe shut up awkwardly. "Oh. Right." _The storm_.

I had to rub my face now. "God, what am I gonna do now? I can't help you figure this shit out while having to deal with him. I mean, not that I don't want him back in my life but…"

"Just explain to him that you've got some personal problems right now and you need some space." Max gave me an advice. "If he's as good a person as you say he is, he'll understand."

 _Max is right. Ian has always been understanding and caring and empathic. He will not blame me for needing some space now._

I accompanied Max to the main building until Principal Wells caught me at the corridor when Max kept going.

"Good day, Principal Wells."

"Abigail. Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah. I'm fine now. I just needed to sleep it off."

"That's good to hear." Wells had a caring tone and smiled at me. "Though I am still concerned about your well-being. Some of the girls told me you were having nightmares this morning in the Girl's Dormitory."

 _Oh, shit._

"I… sir, I…"

"Abigail, your parents, your brother, your friends and your teachers are really worried about you and to be honest, I am too. I don't want you to put yourself through unnecessary stress.

I know that the life has not been easy on you and I don't want you to bear more baggage than you are able to carry.

Coach Edwards and your friends from your swimming class thinks that you should instead take it easy for a couple of days and I think it would be in your best interest to let the school go for the time being."

"I… I understand. I… I just wanted to help my friends here, that's it. I just wanna take it slow for now."

"That's good to hear. You should take some time to fully recover. And may I ask if something else happened in the girl's bathroom yesterday?"

"I beg your pardon?" I was surprised now.

"I did not intend to press the issue further but Max seemed a lot more upset than I would expect from her yesterday." Wells looked concerned now and serious.

 _Jesus, why should I tell you anything, you jackass? Yesterday you did not intend to buy it. Though now I don't smell any booze from you and you can be a good principal sometimes._

"I… I don't know if you'll believe me, sir. I mean, Max and I were scared to death yesterday and... it was already enough that she had to take care of me and…"

"Calm down, Abigail." Wells held my shoulder gently and smiled genuinely. "It's alright. You're safe with me, I promise."

I nodded. _I hope I'm not gonna regret this. Sorry, Max, I really wish I had your rewind powers but I can't hold it back anymore._

"Max and I did not want to talk about it because it would sound crazy and we were afraid you would not believe us and considering who was involved, we did not want to take any chances." I started. "Though I already told everything to my brother last night."

"It's alright. Go on." Wells patiently listened.

"When I was in the cabin, Nathan Prescott came into the bathroom, talking to himself. He was losing it, he said something about how he owns this school and if he wanted to, he could blow it up.

Then he pulled out a gun and I totally freaked out. I thought he would kill me and Max if he found us in there, so Max set off the fire alarm to scare him off."

"Are you being serious now, Abigail?" Wells was narrowing his brows.

"Principal, _I swear to God_ I'm not making this up. Max and I wanted to tell you yesterday but we were afraid you would not believe us. I am aware that Nathan Prescott is one of the most honored students in Blackwell and about his family's contribution towards this school but I know what did Max and I see."

My voice was breaking in between and I could literally hear my heart racing and my hands were shaking and then suddenly in front of me were flashes of images about that night, I could feel Ian's blood on my hands again, those dirty hands on my arms…

"Abby, it's alright. I believe you, I can see it's upsetting you deeply." Principal said gently as I got those flashes out of my head as he laid his hand on my shoulder.

"Really?" My vision was slowly getting blurred by my tears.

Wells nodded. "Though I find it hard to believe that Mr. Prescott would brandish a weapon in the girl's bathroom in the first place, I do not see any reason why would you make this up and considering in what emotional state you and Max were yesterday and Mr. Prescott assaulting you two in the car park...

I knew you two were holding something back but I did not intend to press the issue further. But honestly, this is a very serious accusation and there is little I can do in this matter since there is no physical evidence but I can assure you, I will make sure Mr. Prescott faces consequences. Especially after what happened with your friend Cassandra and her sister Christine."

"Are you serious? I mean, you were not very…"

"I had a little choice in that matter. I'm sorry. I wanted to believe Ms. Masters's but it was their word against the Vortex Club." In his eyes was sincere regret now. "But I will keep an eye on Mr. Prescott, this I promise."

"Thank you, Mr. Wells. You have no idea how much this means to me."

"Of course, Abigail. Though I think you should go rest now."

 _I hope I did the right thing this time. Jesus, this day keeps getting weirder… First Frank, then Ian and now this shit… I'm sorry, Max… I wish I had your power…_

As I was going through the hallway, I saw Max and Ronald talking with David.

"Did Chloe mention she probably stole one of my guns?" _Oh, crap. What is it now?_

"David, c'mon. You're a combat veteran and you're afraid of a rebellious teenager?"

"I care about her, otherwise I would not give a damn. When I was your age, Max, I was out raising a lot more hell… She's better than that. All you kids are. So is Kate Marsh."

Ronald crossed his arms. "David, sometimes you are really dense. Do you really believe that Kate is a member of Vortex Club?

I know her, she's a good person and whatever happened at the party, it was just a one-time thing and it was not on her, not completely.

Max added angrily too. "I don't know what do you suspect Kate of but you don't know her like we do."

This time I had to intervene. "So what was it about with Kate yesterday? She was really scared to death, talking to you. I don't know what exactly you were thinking but she does not deserve being treated like that. She's going through more than enough hell already since last Friday and you scaring her was not helping.

She does not deserve this kind of treating."

"This isn't just about Kate Marsh. My concern is about all Blackwell students, including you." He glanced at me and Max. "I don't want you to go through the same thing that happened to Cassandra Masters and Rachel Amber."

"It will take more than surveillance cameras." Max retorted.

"It will take more than Ms. Grant and her petition to find missing students." David stood his ground.

"I think that's your responsibility as campus security." I commented.

"Abby…" My brother glared at me. "Please, don't."

David crossed his arms tiredly. "I don't want to argue with you or anyone else anymore today. I swear that I'm trying to do my best…"

"I want to believe you, Mr. Madsen. All I'm saying that you are looking the wrong way and that you should approach some things differently. Like with Chloe. I know she sometimes gives you hard time but treating her like a soldier is not an answer, on the contrary, it just makes things worse.

I'm sorry if this sounds too harsh but it's my honest opinion."

David sighed. "I just want what's best for her."

"Then start giving her reasons to believe that." I left with Max but suddenly everything faded away as I stumbled.

"Abby?" Max said, her voice echoing.

I heard his voice again.

" _You've got fire in you, I like that!_ " I felt the cold on my chest and those strong, brute hands on my arms again, the blood on my hands as I tried to help the man I loved once…

Then again it was like if my lungs were filling with water as I could not catch my breath.

"No, no, no…" The fear was taking me over again.

"Abby. Abby!" Max and David held my arms as I was slowly coming back to reality. I felt cold sweat on my forehead now.

"You OK, Abby?" Ronald said with caring tone.

I tried to breathe normally again as I closed my eyes and I tried to banish that memory from my head. " _He's gone, he's gone, he's gone…_ "

David looked at Ronald and Max with concern now. "Could you two please accompany her…?"

"Sure thing." Max nodded.

"Max. Trust me. I got this." Ronald gently brushed Max off. "You should head back to your class."

Everyone in the hall was looking at me again. I was surprised that even Courtney from Vortex Club who was preparing guest list for the next party was actually worried about me.

As Ronald was accompanying me to the girl's dorm, I saw Kate talking to Jefferson and getting upset, shouting out sadly.

"So you won't help me?"

"I'm trying but you need to understand my position…" Jefferson said with caring tone.

Kate broke down. "Why? You don't understand mine. Nobody does!" Kate ran from Jefferson.

I tried to call Kate but I still could not catch a proper breath. Ronald held my arm and shook his head.

"Right now you should be more worried about yourself. There's not much you can do for her. I'm sorry."

 _Unfortunately, my brother was right. Right now I'm not in state to give Kate any support._

Mr. Jefferson looked at me and Ronald. "Are you alright, Ms. Powell?"

"She'll be fine. I'm just taking her back to her room."

Everything was slowly fading into a blur when I walked out, feeling the raindrops on my face and when the sight in my eyes got clearer again, I was at the doorstep of the girl's dorm.

I shook off my brother gently. "I can handle it from here, Ron. Thanks."

"You'd better get some rest." My brother looked at me concerned. "Look, you worry too much about a lot of stuff. Not that I don't appreciate it but you need to rest now. You're carrying more than enough emotional baggage already."

"I'll be fine." I nodded. Before I opened the door, I looked around if Kate was somewhere outside. But right now I was too tired to do anything so I went into my room and tried to sleep. As I took off my jacket, I dried my hair with my towel and I laid down on my bed, taking my pills again.

I passed out for a few moments until some whimpering in the corridor woke me up. I opened the door and looked outside but the corridor was empty. I was about to close the door again but then I noticed that the door to the rooftop was opened and I heard the cry echoing.

I recognized that cry. _Is it Kate? Why would she go on the rooft…_ I remembered suddenly how Kate ran off after she talked with Jefferson. _Oh, Jesus. Oh, God! Oh, no! No! No! No, she can't be! No way! Tell me she's not gonna do what I think she is gonna do!_

I realized what must be going on now and I quickly started to run towards the stairwell. Despite my physical condition since I was a professional swimmer, the recent stress has taken a toll on me and I could not run on stairs as fast as I would under normal circumstances, I kept stumbling while trying to keep up with Kate.

 _I can't let Kate jump off the roof._ I started taking the stairs by three steps with one jump quickly. _Thank God I exercise regularly._ But unfortunately Kate had a headstart and ran upstairs more faster than I did. I guess it's the stress she's under right now.

I shouted at Kate. "Kate! Kate, wait!"

She was not looking back, she just kept going up with her face covered down, not listening to me. I tried to pick up the pace but the pain in my chest would not let me inhale enough oxygen to run faster and by the time I got my eyes on the door to the roof, I saw Kate standing on the edge.

"Kate! Don't!" Kate stretched her arms and free-fell down and I heard screams from down on the ground. "No!"

But suddenly everything rewound and Kate was hanging on the edge again. _Max? Yeah! That's my girl!_

But unfortunately Max apparently did not rewind back enough because by the time was going back to normal, I saw Kate again falling down. _No! That's not enough! C'mon, Max!_

The time then rewound again but… then something _more impossible_ than rewinding time happened. Time froze absolutely. I froze together with the rain and Kate, standing on the edge, looking down.

I could not move any muscle in my body now, all I could to was feel the cold air, the stopped raindrops on my skin as I stretched my arm trying to reach Kate…

 _I really wish I had the power Max has. At least I could prevent this shit. But all I can now do is to stare at my friend who is about to commit suicide, giving up on any hope, losing faith and I am hopelessly watching here._

I kept staring at Kate for the next five minutes or so... but it felt like an eternity. Now I'm never gonna get this image out of my head – how I watched my friend about to kill herself.

 _C'mon, Max, where are you?_ Soon I saw Max walk upstairs but she... somehow struggled, tired, she kept stumbling and then... everything went normal again as Max fell down and I caught her. Max cried in pain now as I tried to catch her.

Kate heard us and turned around.

"What are you two doing here?"

Max tried to rewind but unfortunately she stumbled again, I was gonna reach Kate but she shouted at me, in her eyes threatening look.

"Don't come near me, Abby! I mean it, please don't or I'm gonna jump! Abby, stop right there or I swear I'm gonna do it! Just one more step, I warn you!"

I raised my hands and backed off. She was being serious and desperate, I could see it in her eyes.

"OK, OK. We're right here, Kate but please, don't jump." I begged Kate. My eyes were getting wet and my vision was blurred a little. I was not even sure if I was crying or if the rain was doing it.

Max was getting up. "Don't do this, Kate. Please, it doesn't have to end this way, you don't have to do this!" I noticed Max's nose was bleeding again. She must have exerted her power on freezing time.

 _Shit! No rewind this time, I guess. We're on our own. One wrong sentence and Kate's gonna die. We gotta be careful. Don't fuck this up, Abigail or you're never gonna forgive yourself._

Kate looked at us gratefully and in her voice I heard a hint of faint hope. "Oh, girls, I know you two care about me and you are trying to help me. I love that you two talked to me today and that you stepped up to David yesterday but it does not matter anymore." Kate's voice lowered down. "Nothing matters."

"That's not true, Kate." I tried to comfort her. "You matter. To us. To your friends. There are still people who care about you. Ronald, Dana, Christine…

Please, think about them… think about us… Do you have any idea how much this will hurt us?"

"I don't want to hurt you but I…" Kate sniffed. "I… I just can't keep going on anymore… I want to believe that there is still somebody who cares about me…"

Max tried to reach Kate. "Kate. Your life is still yours. And we can help you get through this together… Let us help you."

"I'm glad that you worry about me." Kate smiled, in her face a spark of hope. "That makes me feel better." _Yeah! Maybe there's still chance._

"We'll always be here for you, Kate. You're not alone in this. You're our family and family looks out for each other." I dared to step forward.

"You are really good friends. And I know that you're trying… I did feel better talking to you on phone, Abby. And I know you would have talked to me if you could, Max.

You are always trying to be here for me…" Kate was cheering up now.

"Kate, please, trust us. Come down with us. It's not too late. We can fix this… together." I tried to reach her. "Like when I erased the crap people wrote on your slate today."

"This morning I erased the weblink to the video… it was in the shower room in the mirror."

"I… I know you are trying. I did feel better when you convinced me to go to the police. I feel like you are the only people I can trust because you know to do the right thing. But I can't go on knowing that Nathan Prescott is going to walk away from this…"

"He's not. We're gathering proof. Trust us, soon we'll go to the police. Think about it like we're cleansing Blackwell."

"You two… and Christine… and Ronald… you are all trying to help me… you've always supported me…" Kate's voice was breaking down with joy.

"Yes." I nodded. "We need to have each other's backs."

"I don't know how I can go on like this! And I just don't know how can you help me!" Kate snapped. "This feels like a nightmare from which I cannot wake up… unless I put myself to sleep… forever… then everyone at Blackwell can post pics of my body…"

"No, Kate, don't!" I was not even thinking, I tried to reach Kate but Max held my hand stopping me. Kate's feet were already on the edge of the roof, balancing. "I won't let you do this to yourself! This is not just your fight, this is OUR FIGHT! You may have given up but I'm not giving up on you! I refuse to stop fighting for you until my last breath! I won't let you end up like Cassie or worse, I just won't let this ruin you!

Like I did for Christine! She's strong and you are too! I believe that! She had to keep going on every single day at Blackwell, struggling with how did everyone laugh at her but eventually she got through this and they stopped! Because she found the strength to go on and she had friends who backed her up!

We can beat the bullies together! I believe in you, Kate! So don't you dare give up on this fight! Don't you dare quit on us, Katherine Beverly Marsh! Because WE are not done fighting! And I'd die before I let this break you!" I left out whatever I had left inside me to convince Kate.

"You… you really believe I can get through this?" Kate was surprised and there was a shine of hope in her eyes again. "I… I don't wanna give up… but… I don't know if that you believe me is enough…"

 _C'mon. There has to be a way to get through you…_ Then Max remembered something. "What about your sisters?" Kate widened her eyes in surprise. _Yeah, that's it, Max! You're a genius!_

I added. "I saw the picture of you in the park. You were with your little sister and she was so happy to be with you…"

"That's Lynn… She's only ten. She does have the best smile ever." Kate was smiling again. "I would hate to see her sad."

Max and I stepped forward, reaching our hands to Kate. Kate looked at us, hesitating but eventually she stepped down, taking our hands and getting down on her knees, crying.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…"

Max smiled as she knelt down and comforted Kate. "What are you talking about? You saved me from talking in class."

I was relieved that it was over. But suddenly that pain in my chest returned as everything fade away again and I could not breathe again.

* * *

I was in some half-ruined building, fighting somebody… I could not see him properly, he was covered in shadow… there were two men taller than me helping me… one of them had my brother's voice.

"You're done hurting my friends, you bastard!"

Then I suddenly stumbled and was falling down until someone caught my hand. Two hands on my arm. I heard a female voice. I looked up but she was covered in shadow.

"Abby, hang on!"

* * *

"Abby, hang on!" I suddenly saw Max and Kate holding my arm when I came to. I tried to get up but I could not feel ground on my feet under me as I tried to walk. I looked down, hoping that what was happening right now was not what I thought was happening but... _Holy shit! Holy shit!_


	9. Episode 2: Out of Time - Part 5

**_Episode 2: Out of Time - Chapter 5_**

 _Holy shit! This could not be happening…_ I was hanging on the roof of our dorm and right now, my friends were fighting for my life. I heard screaming beneath my feet.

 _Jesus, they all look small like ants down there and if I fall, I'm gonna splat like a tomato. Oh my God, I don't wanna die like this, I don't wanna die li… No, I can't think like that!_

"Abby, don't look down!" Max shouted. _Seriously? Little too late for that advice, Max!_

"Help! Get me up! Hurry!" The pain in my chest was worse thanks to the panic rising inside of me now.

"Hang on! We've got you!" Max tried to calm me down but the panic inside my body was rising with each second. "Kate, pull her up!"

"I'm trying! She's too heavy!" Kate struggled to get me up. _Excuse me! I have a strict diet and I exercise a lot, for Christ's sakes!_

"Abby! We're gonna get you back up, don't worry!"

"Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God…" I felt my fingers slipping as Kate whimpered.

"I can't… Oh, no!" She could not hold me any longer and she let my arm go and I fell down few inches before Max tried to hold my hand tight.

"Max! Get me up! Please!" I tried to yell at her. _Jesus, right now I wish she could rewind and prevent this messed up shit. Why does this have to happen to me?_

But Max was also starting to lose the grip as I felt my hand slipping. _So, this is it. This is how I'm gonna die. I tried to save my friend but in the end, my PTSD and my fucked up visions are gonna be the end of me. What kind of cruel world do I live in?_

"Abby! Hold on!" _I never was much of a believer but God, if you're up there, right now I could use a miracle. Kate believes in you, so don't you dare let her down by letting me die, otherwise she's never gonna forgive herself!_

My fingers were about to let Max go but in the last possible moment as I thought I was gonna fall, my guardian angel suddenly appeared.

"I've got you, Abby! Hang on!" I felt a strong hand on my arm suddenly. "Guys, help me get her up!"

"Take my hand!" A rough male voice called me. I just listened, taking his hands and I felt getting pulled back up. When I got up, I saw that it was David and Ronald helping me and Max and Kate supported them by pulling them to give them more strength.

Ronald hugged me tightly and it was like if he refused to let me go. "It's OK, Abby. You're safe now. Holy God, don't scare me like that ever again!"

I was lost for words now, just glad that I'm not dead and that my brother is there for me again. I could feel the stress flow away slowly, instead being replaced by relief and joy that Kate and I are alive but I could not take this surge of emotions anymore as I started to cry again.

I heard Kate whimpering. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry… this is all my fault…"

Max comforted her. "That's not true, Kate. This was not on you, it was on them… they pushed you on the roof… and it was our choice to help you… you cannot blame yourself…"

I heard David's voice echoing but all I could focus on was my brother as I refused to let him go and everything was fading away.

" _Abby? Abby? Abby?_ "

* * *

When I came to, I was not on roof anymore, I was in the corridor outside Principal's office, blanket was on me and with me were Ronald, David and Max and Max was handing me a cup of hot coffee.

"Are you alright, Abby?"

"I… wait, where's Kate?" I looked around but I could not see her.

"The ambulance picked her up." David explained. "Don't worry, she'll be taken cared of, Abby. I thought it might be best if they took you too but we could not sort of separate you from your brother."

Ronald looked at me freaking out, right now he was scared to death. "Abby, what the hell were you thinking? You could have gotten yourself killed because of your PTSD!" He laid his hands on my shoulders.

I don't even know where did I recover my strength now. "What was I supposed to do, Ronald? Sleep while Kate was about do kill herself right above me? I heard her crying when I was resting and when I saw the door to the roof open, I knew I had to do something!"

Ronald then looked at David as he calmed down. "Weren't those doors supposed to be locked?"

"I did lock them yesterday evening." David said with sincere regret. "I honestly don't know how did she get up there. I'm sorry." He then looked at me.

"Then next time we should probably check the door more regularly." Ronald sighed. "This needn't have come this far if you hadn't been harassing Kate!" He gave David a very angry look, almost the same one he had when he protected me from Kevin Chark.

David looked down in shame for a moment. "I do realize now that I may have misjudged her and that I should have treated her better." _May have? Huh. Understatement of the year, asshole._

Then Mr. Jefferson opened the door. "Principal Wells will be ready to see you now. Shall we?"

"One moment, please." I then pointed at Max, David and Ronald to come closer. "What should we tell him?" I whispered.

"Just tell the Principal the truth. That you tried to save your friend." David reassured me.

" _But why was she there in the first place_? How are we gonna explain this? _I know_ that Nathan Prescott had something to do with Kate's problems, I just know!" I was desperate now. "But we don't have any proof right now…"

"It's going to be alright. We'll figure this out." Max and Ronald held my hand.

"Whatever happens, you must keep your cool. All of you." David looked at us. We nodded.

When we entered the office, I saw Jefferson and Nathan inside with Principal Wells too.

Max and I sat down next to Nathan with Ronald standing right behind us, ready to interfere if one of us tried to do something stupid. I could see in Nathan's eyes for a moment fear and I was sure he flinched when he realized my brother was right behind us.

I was so angry right now at that asshole but Ronald held my shoulder, also trying to calm himself down just as much as calming me down.

That prick was lucky that Wells, David, Jefferson and Max were inside with us.

Wells was looking outside the window at the sunset as he started to speak.

"Now I know today was difficult for everybody but I'm so proud of the way Blackwell pulled together to save lives of two young girls." _Blackwell? More like me, Max and Ronald did pull together._

Then he turned his attention to me and Max, in his eyes mixed pride and concern. "While I am proud of your effort to save Kate, and I commend you for that, Maxine, in your case, Abigail, I'm sorry to say that considering your current state I am very, very disturbed.

This was reckless, irresponsible and foolish and you have endangered your own life in the process of trying to help her."

"That's what you get for trying to play a hero instead of resting, drowner." I heard Nathan mutter as he neighed a bit.

I felt Ronald squeezing my shoulder as I was about to lash out on him. I glanced him and he gave me an understanding look and shook his head almost imperceptively under his cap as his angered eyes were telling me. _We'll deal with that asshole later._

"Mr. Prescott, if I were you, I would watch my mouth." Wells looked at Nathan very seriously. Then he again turned to the window.

"As principal of Blackwell Academy, I take my duties seriously. I take the well-being of every student more seriously. What happened today should never happen in hall of wisdom and knowledge."

 _Now he was not that drunk, ignorant jack-ass Max and I met yesterday and who Chloe warned us about. Why can't be like that more often? I hate that Nathan's father has him under his thumb._

Wells turned his attention to David. "Mr. Madsen, as our head of security here, those roof doors should always be locked. They were not. That's just standard procedure. They were not. And that is indeed your responsibility.

He looked at Jefferson next. "Mr. Jefferson, I know you can't be expected to know what your students are going through, but Kate has assisted you in class, so you should have known something was amiss."

Then he turned to Nathan. "Mr. Prescott, since you are responsible for the Vortex Club parties and since Miss Marsh did attend your last parties, you'll have to answer some more questions."

Wells then sat down and he finally turned his attention to me and Max.

"Maxine, Abigail, why exactly were you two on the roof with Kate Marsh? Did she tell you her plan? Or anything at all? Please, tell us everything."

"Well… it's not like she told us she was gonna commit suicide but…" I chose my next words carefully. "We were really worried about her all day. She was very upset and depressed today because of that video and Max and I did try to comfort her.

We knew she was depressed but we had no idea that she would do something so drastic… until it was almost too late. I was resting in my room when I heard Kate cry in the corridor and then I saw the doors to the roof open… and I realized what was happening. I didn't even think.

I knew I had to do something. And Max was right behind me because she was worried about her as much as I was."

Wells nodded. "I see. I have had several reports regarding this video."

"All of this because you dosed her at the party, you bastard! You almost got my friends killed!" Max could not hold it back any longer even though she tried to keep her voice steady as she lashed out on Nathan and I was shocked by Max's outburst and right now, I hoped that this would not bite us both in the back. Ronald then glared at Max with his eyes widened, wanting her to shut up.

"What? What do you mean that ‚Nathan dosed her'?" Wells widened his eyes as he looked at Max seriously.

 _I guess there's no going back now unless you rewind, Max._

I explained. "Kate got wasted and kissed some boys on viral video without a clue. I was there, I saw her. It was nothing like her, she had no idea what she was doing and she has no memory of that and I saw Nathan taking her away from the party when she was so out of it."

Nathan tried to brush our accusations off as he acted innocently, again, it was very dreadful acting and only an idiot would buy that.

"I dosed her? Without a clue? Have you two seen the video? Whatever. Kate was loaded and playing the field-"

"Save it! Don't think we're gonna buy your lame act!" Ronald growled at Nathan with warning tone as he instantly shut up, flinching as he saw Ronald give him a fierce glare.

"You are such a liar! You told Kate you took her to the ER!" Max yelled out.

Nathan was again retorting with more calmer tone as he shook his hand. "I said I _was_ gonna take her to the emergency room. She sobered up eventually…"

"Bullshit!" I snapped. "Something happened to her and you know it! How about we talk about you waving a gun in the girl's bathroom-"

Max widened her eyes as she looked at me and Ronald squeezed my shoulder, not wanting me to continue and Nathan cut me off.

"Hey! That's total slander! I could sue you and this school so fast… I already have a personal lawyer…"

Wells looked at Nathan with scorn now as he raised his voice, shutting Nathan up. " _Careful_ , Mr. Prescott. I have been told of this alleged gun incident. And I have to admit that the video in question was sent to me by multiple sources."

"Including us." David noted as he looked at my brother.

Wells went on. "And since Mr. Prescott does appear prominently in the video and was responsible for the party, I have no choice but to suspend him until further notice."

Nathan relaxed back on his chair as he waved his hands. "Whatever. See you in court."

 _Nathan suspended? Well, that's something at least but… I'd rather he'd go to jail instead but we don't have any proof right now._

Max was surprised as much as I was as we looked at each other. In her eyes was at first disappointment that I told Wells about the gun incident.

Jefferson then cleared his throat. "Excuse me, I think Max, Abby and Nathan need a break before we grill them all further. A friend and student just tried to kill herself and Abby has already gone through more than enough stress for the past few days. They don't need this forum right now."

"Agreed." Ronald noted. "Principal, if you won't mind, I'd like to take my sister home now, please."

"Yeah, I'm kinda devastated now too…" Nathan said sarcastically and I had to roll my eyes. "I'd like to be with my family."

"Of course, Ronald." Wells nodded. "But before you go, I would like for her and Max to sign the statement here to confirm what they told us. I will continue this investigation from here.

And you, Abigail, you should really be careful about your welfare. Endangering yourself was not worth all this. Be glad that your brother and your friend were there to help you."

Wells handed me and Max two sheets of paper and pens and Max and I signed them. The principal then stood up from his chair.

"Well, I think we know less than we started. Thank you. We'll be assisting the police with further inquiries. I know this has been a stressful day and I wish I had the power to change it all for better, so thank you for coming in here."

As we were leaving the Principal's office, I could see Nathan giving me and Max threatening look.

 _Just you wait, you motherfucker. We're just getting started. And when this is over, I'll see you behind bars._

Ronald stopped me and Max soon after he closed the door to the office behind us and he looked at Max, very disturbed.

"Max, why didn't you do something earlier? You could have done something with your rewind power."

Max uttered. "I tried but… I couldn't… I don't know why but my power was not working anymore… instead of rewinding I could freeze time for a few minutes but then it failed me."

" _You really froze time?_ " I was amazed now. "Now how did you do _that thing?_ "

"I wish I knew, Abby. And I tried to save you with my powers but somehow I couldn't." Max looked at me with regret now. "I'm sorry."

"This is not on any of us. If anyone is to blame, it's Nathan and Vortex Club, David harassing Kate and Jefferson being ignorant to her." Ronald comforted Max.

Max sighed. "Weird shit is going on here in Blackwell. And we're gonna find out why."

Ronald and I nodded. "At least that shit-ass got suspended, now he won't bother you two much further. But we're gonna have to do more to take him down."

* * *

My brother was about to take me home when I met Christine outside the campus.

"Abby! Abby!" She ran to me and hugged me. "Oh, thank God! I saw you and Kate on the roof! And then the ambulance took her! Are you OK?" She sighed with relief.

"To be honest, I'm totally fucked up now. I just wanna go home and forget about… everything."

"At least Max saved your asses with her rewind thing." Christine laughed.

Ronald muttered. "Not… exactly. We'll tell you later. But right now, I'd like to take her home."

"Sure thing." Christine smiled, wiping her tears of joy.

Ronald took me to his car and took us both back home. He went to grab a coke to get some rest and when I went into my room, I saw Ian sitting on my bed. Then he ran to me as he hugged me.

"Thank God you're alright. I saw on the news what happened at Blackwell."

"I'm OK. I'm OK, Ian."

"You tried to save your friend and endangered yourself, that's something…" Ian smiled at me as he kissed me on my forehead. "I'm proud of you, baby but this was very careless. Never do anything like that ever again."

"You're gonna have to stop me from doing dumb stuff." I smiled.

"Oh, you have no idea what would I do to stop you." He started to kiss me on my lips again as he took off my jacket. The excitement was building up inside him and I enjoyed it as I kissed him back. _It was a long time for me._ I thought as I was taking off his shirt. He then took off my top and undid my bra as we laid down on my bed and he was starting to moan and taking off my pants, kissing my breasts as he started to lean on me.

" _Ugh, fuck…_ " I could feel the excitement inside me building up as I closed my eyes groaning and held his strong arms, _God, how missed those muscles..._ Ian was kissing my shoulders but something in the window caught my attention.

"Wait, Ian, stop, stop."

"Oh, we're just getting started." Ian giggled.

"The sun…"

"It's as beautiful as you, I know…"

"No, Ian, seriously, wait a second." Ian raised his head and I gently raised my hand hinting for him to get up. I looked outside the window and saw the sun going into the eclipse as I covered my breasts with my arm and with my other hand I buttoned back my pants.

"What the hell?" I was shocked now. "There was not supposed to be any eclipse today."

I heard knocking on the door as Ronald called us. "Guys! Did you look outside the window?"

"Yeah." Ian also had his eyes widened. "What the fuck is going on? I read about the snow yesterday and now this…"

 _Why is this happening? What's going on? There is seriously some weird shit going on in Arcadia Bay… and we need to see this through._

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _I hope you like this so far, ladies and gentlemen. I'd appreaciate immediate feedback ASAP when you finish reading this part._

 _I will continue soon writing the next chapter, see you soon in **Life is Strange: Episode 3 - Chaos Theory**_

 _With greetings,_

 _Bl4ckHunter :-)_


	10. Episode 3: Chaos Theory - Part 1

_**Episode 3: Chaos Theory - Chapter 1**_

 _The same day, evening_

I could not sleep while I was wondering what has been happening these past few days… Nathan's attempt to kill Chloe, my drowning accident, then I almost die while I try to help Kate… Max had to save my ass… now Ian…

It weren't even six hours or what when it happened… just about an hour after sunset…

 _Jesus, how did I get into this shit? And why does Max have this awesome rewind power and I don't…_

 _At least Ian is calmly sleeping right next to me, he's obviously been through a lot but… so have I and unbelievingly just in two days I had to go through some serious shit, while Ian… he's been through awful stuff too but he had three years…_

My phone kept buzzing, messages and posts on my and Kate's Facebook pages kept coming, everybody was wishing me and Kate full recovery and they were hoping for us to get through this, including Blackwell students.

 _What a bunch of hypocrites. They have been making fun of Kate these past five days and when she's pushed into life-or-death situation, suddenly they try to be nice._

 _Yeah, you were all "really" good friends to her. Hypocritical assholes._

 _But it was a small comfort to me that my parents and Christine and Chloe were worried about me._

They figured that I almost fell down because I went through a PTSD seizure from what I read on my page.

I dialed my voicemail and listened to messages from my parents, Christine, Dana… it almost made me cry, until I heard a message from Chloe and she sounded really upset.

* * *

" _Oh My God, Abby! Are you alright? I saw on TV what happened at the campus! You are hella lucky that Max was there to save your ass with her cool rewinding superpower._

 _I hope you'll get better. Something sketchy is going on in Blackwell and we're gonna find out what it is and we'll make sure that that fucking weasel Nathan Prescott's gonna hella pay._

 _Tonight I'm gonna go with Max figure out in what kind of shit is Nathan involved in and we're gonna hella kick his ass, I promise you that._

 _Just… get better, OK. You're still our mate. Chloe."_

* * *

 _The hell? Don't tell me that Chloe and Max are gonna sneak into Blackwell during the curfew. Screw this!_

I looked at the time and… well, it was ten o'clock which meant the curfew was an hour ago.

I quickly grabbed a top and shorts from my wardrobe since my other clothes were still wet from the rain and I did not want to catch cold. I wrote a message to Ian on my night desk.

* * *

 _Went out with my friends, see you in the morning._

 _Love you._

 _Abby_

* * *

I went downstairs but as I opened the door, my brother caught me unfortunately.

"Abigail? Where are you going?"

I turned around and looked him in the eyes. At first I thought I would tell him that I just wanted some fresh air but I did not intend to lie to him anymore.

"I need to get back to Blackwell."

Ronald came to me and he said very protectively with fatherly tone. "No. What you need is to get some rest. You have been through enough already. I don't know exactly what are you gonna do but right now you are not in state to do anything more for Kate. Max and Chloe got this."

"Ronald. You know that something weird is going on in that place and how dangerous Nathan is. Suspension is not gonna stop him." I had to whisper but I wanted my brother to know serious I was. "I have to do something…"

"Not alone you're not." Ronald held my arm softly.

"I won't be alone."

"I wasn't talking about Max or Chloe."

Ronald pulled out his car keys as he smiled.

* * *

About ten minutes later Ronald parked in front of the campus and he accompanied me to my dorm so I could meet with Max. But when we were at the gate to the campus, we saw Wells drunk at the doorstep to the Prescott dormitories. "I know I have a set of keys on me somewhere…"

Ronald raised his finger to his lips, hinting for me to be quiet as he walked by Wells.

"Sir."

"Ronald. I thought you'd be at home taking care of your sister. What are you…"

"Abby is… really stressed and unfortunately we kinda… ran out of pills back home and she cannot sleep very well without them. She asked me to pick them up in her room back here. I hope you won't…"

"Of course, of course… She must be really stressed since this was second time in two days when she almost died, you should take care of your little sister…"

"Do you need some help, sir?"

"No, no… I'm fine… just… go pick up her pills…" Wells waved his hand at my brother and then he turned around.

Ronald hinted for me to quickly sneak past Wells while he was not looking. "I'll keep an eye on Wells. You go find Max."

I texted Max.

* * *

 _ABIGAIL: Where R U?_

 _MAX: In the dorm._

 _ABIGAIL: On my way. Ronald took me here._

 _MAX: U sure U R OK?_

 _ABIGAIL: Don't worry. I can handle it._

* * *

But soon after I entered the dorm, it all started to flash right in front of me and the pain in my chest returned.

 _The rape, Ian on the floor, the drowning, then Kate's suicide attempt, how Kate and Max tried to help me from falling…_

 _"We're just having some fun…"_

I quickly went into the bathroom and washed my face just to get this stuff out of my head. I started to count from 100 down as I calmed down.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck… hundred, ninety-nine, ninety-eight…"

"Abby?" I heard a voice next to me as I turned around.

 _Taylor. Great. One of the last persons I want to see tonight._

"What are you doing here?" _Oh, so now you suddenly give a shit about my well-being._

"Why the fuck do you care? Looking for another excuse to laugh at me? Wanna gloat how miserable failure I am and that I needed to have my ass saved? Taylor, _I swear to God, if you say so much as just one stupid joke…_ " I could not hide how angry I was right now.

Taylor must have been surprised by my outburst as she raised her hands apologetically. "No, no, no. Calm down, please, it's not like that, I swear." In her eyes was regret.

"I just… I thought you'd be resting at home and to be honest you and Kate scared the shit out of all of us. We were really worried about you two."

 _As you should. This is all your fault._

I splashed my face again and I had to control my voice now so I would not lash out at her and wake up everyone in the dorm. I sighed to calm down. "Ronald took me here because I ran out of pills back home. I just came to pick them up. And if I'm being honest, I didn't feel like staying at home now."

"I… I see…" Taylor sheeped out as she looked down in shame. "I… I just can't believe what happened… Kate trying to kill herself… I saw you and Max trying to help her and then you… What happened? Are you OK?"

I tried not to think about the rape and my nightmares. "No offense but I don't wanna talk about it and I did not expect _you_ of all people to give a shit."

"I'm my own person, Abby, not Victoria's bitch." Taylor said defensively. "I _do_ have my own feelings, if you don't know."

I splashed my face. "You do realize that this mess could have been avoided had you not been making fun of Kate with that stupid video. I knew something like that would happen and I told you to stop." I could see Taylor hold back tears. I guess I raised my voice a bit.

"I… I'm sorry… I never meant for all of this to go so far… it was just a joke…"

"It always starts as an innocent joke until somebody gets hurt. You almost got me and Kate killed, you bastards!" Then I looked at Taylor as she started to sniff. I realized maybe she was not as bitchy as I thought she was so I quickly splashed my face again.

"I'm sorry. I did not mean it like that. * sigh * Taylor. I _don't want to_ blame you. I _don't want to_ hate you and I _don't want to_ be mad at you but you do realize that you and Victoria and the Vortex Club should have taken it easy on Kate, do you? She has been really depressed since that party and almost everyone kept pushing her with that stupid video…

I warned you that something like that would happen if you didn't leave her alone."

"I know that now… When I saw Kate on the roof, I knew we went too far. And how you tried to help her despite your condition and how they had to save you too… I realized that maybe instead we should not have made fun of her."

I splashed my face again. "I can think of thousands of reasons to hate you but I'm too tired now and I'm so sick of all this shit… I don't want to do this anymore…"

"I guess I'd have it coming. Look, for what it's worth, I'm sorry. I don't expect you to forgive me, Abby and I would not blame you if you could not but… I just want you to know that I wanna be better than that and that if I knew what would happen, I would not have..."

I looked at Taylor as I raised my hand. "I believe you, Taylor. But I'm just so fucking tired now, I just want to grab my pills and go back home and go to sleep finally…"

I looked into the mirror and then I saw _him_ again. " _I like you, baby._ "

"No… no… no…" The panic took me over again. Again I felt his dirty hands on my arms.

" _Abby?_ " I heard Taylor's voice echoing. " _Are you OK?_ "

" _Don't be like that, we're just having some fun…_ "

"Get off me! Get off me, you freak!" I felt a pair of hands on me now as it all flashed in front of me again and I tried to push that person away but they grabbed me again. "No! No! Leave me alone!" I felt trembling now.

I heard a much softer voice now. "Abby, wake up! Abby!"

Everything got clearer in front of me and right now I saw Max, Dana, Christine and Taylor in the bathroom with me.

"Are you OK?"

They all looked scared to death, white as a sheet and right now, inside me were building up a lot of emotions… fear, relief… now I just could not take it anymore… I just curled to the ball to find some solitude.

* * *

I don't even know how did they manage to drag me but when I got a hold of myself, I was sitting on sofa in Dana's room and Christine gave me a bottle of water and my pills from my room. I took twice the pills the I had prescribed and I quickly drank the whole bottle just to get the fucking nightmare out of my head.

I saw Max talking to Taylor at the doorstep. "Just go back to your room, please, we'll take care of her. Don't worry, we got this."

Dana looked at me with fear in her eyes. "Abby. You shouldn't have come here. You should be back at home resting."

I had to sigh. "I know… I would have but… I just could not sleep…" _What would be the best excuse?_ "Ian is back and I needed some space for myself."

Dana and Christine widened their eyes, Max wasn't that much surprised since I already told her.

"What?"

"Really?"

I nodded. "He returned today and we kinda had a talk after the…" I looked up the ceiling to hint what exactly do I mean. "And then we… let's just say that some feelings don't die that easily."

Christine smiled at that. "It's nice to know that you're happy. You deserve it after all that shit you've been through lately."

I wiped my face. "But to be honest, it's kinda been too much on me lately and I didn't feel like staying with him at the moment, plus we ran out of pills back home, so Ronald brought me here to pick them up."

"You could have told Max to bring them to you but…" Dana said with understanding. "I guess I can understand your position. But really, you should not have come here after what's been happening to you lately."

"I'll take care of her." Max grabbed me gently. "I'll walk her out."


	11. Episode 3: Chaos Theory - Part 2

_**Episode 3: Chaos Theory - Chapter 2**_

I went out with Max to the exit to the dorm where Ronald waited for us. "I got rid of Wells. You ready?"

"Yeah."

Max and I went with Ronald to the main building but on the way Chloe jumped on us from the bushes and to be honest, she scared me to death.

"Boo-yah!"

"Aaaagh!" I pounded Chloe into her shoulder. "Jesus, Chloe, are you out of your mind? I nearly had a fucking heart attack! I can take just so much shit right now, damn it…."

Chloe probably did not expect me or Ronald here. "Oh, sorry. I thought you'd be at home resting, Abby."

"And let you and Max sneak around in Blackwell?" Ronald whispered. "Not a chance. We're in this together and we're in deep shit enough as it is. Plus, I could distract any guards here before they'd catch you."

"Ronald's right. We need all the help we can get." Max agreed.

"Seriously, Chloe, no more pranks tonight. We didn't have the best day today, this is the second time in two days when I was on the verge of death." I left out the stress inside me.

"I said I'm sorry, OK? But at least you still had your friends around to save your ass. And Kate's." Chloe had a remorseful look.

"We were lucky." Max noted. "Imagine it… you'd say just _one_ wrong sentence and… I don't even wanna think about what would have happened. I couldn't even use my powers to save Kate or Abby."

"Max, this is not on you." Ronald comforted her. "Be glad that everyone walked out of this alive."

"We still need to find out what's going on here. We need to connect the dots. The clues must be inside Principal's office somewhere. We can't let what happened to Kate happen to anyone else, we need to stop this." Max said with firm conviction.

"Oh yeah and stop that tornado from wiping out Arcadia Bay…" Chloe said with ominous tone.

"Chloe… not now." I shook my head. "There are more important things to attend to."

"At least that fucking "Prickscott" got suspended." Ronald chuckled. "Now he won't be that much of the problem but we gotta focus, folks."

"I think there's too much coincidence between Kate and Rachel." Max was lost in thoughts now.

"Like step-prick and Nathan?"

"For example." Ronald nodded. "But still… I can't shake the feeling like there's more… the clues might be in Principal's office but getting in will not be easy."

"No problem." Chloe smirked as she pulled out a set of keys from her pockets. Ronald looked closely at the keys as he widened his eyes in realization and shook his head.

"No. No way. Chloe, you didn't…"

"Snatch from my step-prick the spare master keys to the school?" Chloe said with conspicuous tone.

"Chloe! Are you out of your mind? Do you have any idea how much trouble we could get into if they catch us?" Ronald panicked now.

"Calm down, Ronnie." Chloe raised her hand and Max and I had to squeeze my brother's arm.

"I think that the trouble we could get into for this are nothing comparing to the trouble Arcadia Bay might be in." Max noted.

Ronald sighed. "Fine. But if they catch us, I'm gonna have to bust you all. And _that_ is not gonna be discussed." Ronald added before we could all open our mouths. _Everytime my brother said that sentence, it was obvious we would be getting with him into an argument we could not possibly win._

Ronald then looked to the entrance. "You hear it?"

"Hear what?"

Ronald hinted for us to be stealthy and we sneaked up to the entrance to the main building and we hid in the shadows to eavesdrop. It was Victoria and Jefferson at the entrance and we all were surprised.

It was Victoria and Mr. Jefferson.

"Thank you again so much for helping me put together a portfolio."

"Hopefully the rest of the class will follow your lead. I'm sorry if I was distracted. As you know, it has not been a good day for Blackwell."

"I know this has been an awful day and you can talk to me, Mr. Jefferson." _What the… Is she flirting with him? Seriously?_

Chloe widened her eyes mouthing " _What the fuck?_ "

Jefferson smiled at Victoria. "Thank you, Victoria. I'm glad it had a relatively happy ending."

Victoria sighed with relief. "I don't know what I would have done if Katie had jumped or if Abbie had fallen." _"Katie"? "Abbie"? Are you kidding me? Don't tell me you REALLY give a shit, you bitch._

"Oh, I didn't know you were so good friends with Kate and Abby." Jefferson sounded surprised as I snorted. _Define "friends". I don't wanna hate her but she keeps shooting me, Christine and Kate down at every single opportunity and I can take just so much of her shit. I don't wanna hate her but she does not make it easy on us._

"Well… I do care about them and…" I had to growl at that. "…does this affect somehow " _Everyday Heroes_ " contest?"

Jefferson said firmly. "It doesn't. The contest is still a go and I still have to pick the winner to best represent Blackwell. I've got all of the photos except for one from Max."

"I'll give you a one-word sneak preview of Max's photo – selfie." _Screw you, Bitchtoria._ Victoria then lowered her voice. "Listen, you've seen my entry, you know it's better than that. Wouldn't it be so cool to hang out together in San Francisco, _Mark_?" I had to roll my eyes now. _Jesus, only an idiot would fall for this kind of flirting._

Jefferson looked annoyed. "Stick to " _Mr. Jefferson_ ", Victoria. Please? And… uh.. I haven't picked a winner yet."

He was about to leave but Victoria grabbed him by his arm. "You already love my work, so it's not like you're playing favorites. Just imagine if you picked my photo though… We would have to spend a lot of time together. That could be… fun, don't you think?"

"I'm going to pretend you didn't even say that."

"You might as well choose me otherwise I might have to tell people you offered to choose my photo for favors or something…" _Now she blackmails him? Jesus, how far is she gonna go to win?_

"As a favor to your future, I'll also ignore _that_ undisguised threat. This conversation is officially over, Miss Chase. I suggest you go back to your dorm." Jefferson left with disgust.

Later Victoria also left with annoyance. "Are you fucking kidding me? That's so stupid…"

But then I unfortunately sneezed though I did cover my mouth. I instantly froze as Victoria turned around. "Who's there?" _Oh, no._

Ronald shushed me and he went out. "Victoria, hey. Aren't you supposed to be in the dorm? I mean, it's past curfew…"

"Oh. Hi, Ron. I just… needed some air after what happened to Kate and your sister…" Victoria tried to act innocently.

Ronald nodded. "I see. I hope what happened did not disturb you much."

"Is Abby alright?" Victoria looked genuinely concerned now.

"If she was, I would not be here. She can't sleep very well now and I had to go pick up her pills in her room."

Victoria smiled with understanding. "Uh-huh."

"Forgive me for saying this but I did not expect _you_ to care. I mean, from what has Abigail told me, if I got it right, you two don't get along very much…"

"I… I'll admit we get on each other's nerves sometimes." _Sometimes?_ I had to get out a quiet sarcastic laugh. "But that doesn't mean I don't care about her welfare altogether. I don't know what exactly does she thinks about me but I'm not an evil person." _I find that hard to believe, you bitch._ "Just tell her that we all wish her and Kate well and that they both recover soon."

"I will. But _really_ , you should head back to your dorm before the other guards catch you. Bye."

"Bye, Ron." Victoria smiled at my brother.

When Victoria was out of sight we entered the main building with the master keys.

But when we went into the secretary's room, none of the keys Chloe had or the ones in the room we found while searching it did not fit.

"What the fuck? The security officer should have the key to the Principal's office." Chloe wailed.

"Either Wells is really paranoid or he's into some deep shit he does not want _anyone_ to know." Ronald deduced.

We searched the room if there are the keys to the office but we had no luck.

"No key for thee." Max let out.

"Now what? How are we gonna get in?" I stretched my arms.

Chloe pulled out a set of padlocks. "We definitely need to get this door open. Believe it or not, guys, Frank taught me a trick or two about lockpicking."

"Chloe. There's not enough time!" I hissed.

"Go for it. We don't have a choice. We're already in this deep." Max decided.

"We're pressing our luck as it is. I don't like this." Ronald was nervous. "The sooner we get out of here, the better. And since you pulled out Frank, would you mind telling us what was that about in the afternoon in the junkyard?"

Chloe sighed but Max started to talk. "Long story short – Chloe owes him a buttload of money – three grands plus interest and… from what it seems, Frank might have been involved with Rachel and..." Chloe glared at Max.

"That's why he had _her_ bracelet? Because she was screwing him?" I asked but then I realized it was a big mistake since Chloe let out frustrated growl.

" _No fucking way she would_. Frank's an asshole. He-"

"OK, sorry. I just asked." I raised my hand.

"And what, Max?" Ronald asked.

Max looked down in shame. "… He has Chloe's gun."

"WHAT?" Ron and I hissed and Chloe looked at Max with disappointment.

"I freaked out, OK? You know I don't like guns… and… Frank took it as an interest on her debt." Max then pulled out her phone and called Warren, _not very discreetly_ asking him how to break into the office.

"You wanna involve Warren into this? What are you thinking?" I freaked on Max.

"He doesn't have to know what are we doing."

"Just say what do we need." Ronald sighed.

Max showed us the message from Warren.

* * *

 _Now pay attention, 007. You have to find FOUR objects:_

 _1\. SUGAR_

 _2\. A SODA CAN_

 _3\. DUCT TAPE_

 _4\. SODIUM CHLORATE_

* * *

Ronald and I widened our eyes.

"What the… Max, that's a bomb! That's Warren's plan? Are you two totally nuts? Blowing up the door? That thing goes off, the fire alarm will detect in and then we're busted!"

"Do you have a better plan?" Max said desperately.

"Uh…" Ronald sighed again. " _Fine_. Let's just get this over with. If we're lucky, the explosion will be too small for the detectors to recognize it."

Ronald went to the dispenser to get a soda can and keep an eye while Max and I went into the science class to get the remaining objects. I noticed that Max also changed Warren's grade on the last test. I luckily knew that Sodium Chlorate is in weed killer so I took it from the shelf and Max took some sugar from the teacher's desk. Then we found duct tape in Jefferson' class and we returned back to Chloe in the secretary's office to stick the bomb to the doorknob.

"Take it easy on the door, Chloe. Let's try this instead." Max grinned.

"Boom. Literally." I joked.

Chloe was excited. "Yes! Time to blow shit up!"

Ronald covered his face. "This is not gonna end well. Man, I am so fired."

"Chill out, Ron. We'll figure it out." Chloe smiled at him. And everytime she said " _We'll figure it out._ ", the shit hit the fan. Ronald made a sarcastic laugh.

We all covered our ears and took cover as Chloe pulled out a lighter and lit the fuse. But the moment the bomb exploded, a fire alarm went off, just like Ronald said he would.

"Oh, no, no, no, no! I can't go to jail for this! C'mon! Shit, shit, shit…"

"We're toast! Here comes the Arcadia Bay Fire and Police Department!"

"Now what?" I panicked. Max grabbed my hand, dragging me inside the office and rewound just before we blew up the door.

The door were closed again while we were inside and the alarms were off and I heard Chloe behind the door talking to herself while trying to pick the lock. I must say, it made me and Max giggle. I must say, I miss how short-tempered Chloe could be.

"If I can get this bastard open, she can't cheat with her rewind… This is bullshit! Fuck you, door!"

"Chloe, relax… we'll figure it out… Max and Abby are gonna be back soon and…"

I unlocked the door. "Ta-daa."

"Welcome to our domain." Max bowed like a performer.

"You are magic. I have no clue how the hell you got in there but you did it. Nice job, sisters." Chloe high-fived with me and Max.

"You rewound, did you?" Ronald deduced.

"Yup."

"Let's just find what we need so we can get the hell out of Dodge. I had enough of this place." I looked around.

While Chloe tried to crack the Principal's computer, Max and Ronald and I snooped around the records in here.

Max had good GPA, while Chloe's record… reminded me why was she expelled. And why was I avoiding her for the past couple of years. And when I looked at Kate's file… well, she had a good record but considering what has been happening to her, she was under investigation because of the video and then I saw a message for Wells from school nurse An-Marie Barenchi.

* * *

" _Principal Wells,_

 _As the school nurse, I should inform you that Kate Marsh appears to have experienced some recent emotional or physical trauma._

 _I spoke to her briefly and she was upset but vague and refused to talk further with me._

 _I think it's important that we keep our eyes on her and make sure she's not under duress from other classmates, as is my suspicion._

 _Regards_

 _An-Marie Barenchi"_

* * *

 _You obviously ignored that, you drunk piece of shit. If you'd given a damn about her well-being as much as you claimed this afternoon, none of this would have to happen._

As for me… while I had good grades, there were some stuff about me I did my best to forget.

* * *

" _ABIGAIL EMILY POWELL_

 _BRIEF SUMMARY: Abigail, or Abby, as she prefers to be called, is very hard-working, diligent student, yet she shows signs of absent-mindedness, presumably a symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder due to being sexually assaulted and watching her friend's life being threatened in 2010._

 _While the teachers and employees here appreciate her effort, they cannot stop expressing concern about her own welfare, including her older brother Ronald who is employed here in Blackwell as security guard._

 _She represents the good side of Blackwell by being a part of our swimming team of Otters._

 _UPDATE: Recently Abigail's life has been endangered twice and she shows more increasingly signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. The Physical Education Coach Edwards reported an accident in the swimming pool where Abigail almost drowned and she almost lost her life in an attempt to prevent the suicide of fellow student and friend Kate Marsh. Her friends and teachers reported she has also been having seizures and nightmares recently._

 _It was recommended for her to leave school for the time being so she could focus on full physical and psychological recovery._ "

* * *

And it all flashed right in front of me again and the pain in my chest returned. I had to breathe out loudly so I would not freak out which did not go unnoticed by others. I again counted down. "One hundred, ninety-nine, ninety-eight…"

"Are you OK, Abby?" Max looked concerned.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be fine."

"I think you should see this, folks." Ronald told us while he was looking into computer records with Chloe and she was really outraged now.

"Nathan accuses Rachel of bringing drugs on campus? And my step-troll went along because he thinks Rachel was a bad influence on me." Chloe banged the desk angrily. "Assholes!"

"David teaming up with Nathan?" Ronald was disturbed. "That doesn't sound good."

"And we all know that the Prescotts dropped major bank to bury Nathan's real file."

"It's like a god-damned rap sheet. And I remember some of those things, I did bust him in most of these cases and reported it but everytime I told the principal, he said I was just looking for excuses to hassle Nathan and he told me that Nathan was innocent and that I had no proof or no witnesses.

Just exceptionally he reprimanded Nathan but that was it. If it were up to me, he'd be expelled long time ago and sent into an asylum. He's totally unstable."

"Bad grades, teacher complaints, secret probations, throwing a desk in class, cursing at his English teacher, stealing school supplies, lighting firecrackers in the bathroom… Holy shit." I heard and saw him sometimes doing this stuff but… _Jesus…_ "I'm sorry they expelled _you_ , Chloe." I pat Chloe on her shoulder.

"At least that fucker got suspended." Max smiled but then suddenly something else caught her attention. "Wait. Look at the file."

Max opened the file and we saw some weird drawing… no, not a drawing… there was written all over and over "RACHEL IN THE DARK ROOM".

"That kid is a total psycho." Ronald grinded his teeth. "He should be in straitjacket in padded cell."

Chloe nodded. "Yeah, he's truly psychotic. I _just know_ he has something to do with Rachel missing.

"And look at this." I noticed something else. " _David M. always asks what's going on in my head. David M. helps me follow those he follows…_ "

"Pretty cryptic." Max noted.

"More like if they formed some sort of weird team. "The Super He-Bros"."

"What the fuck is going on? David was stalking Kate, hassling us, and now we know he was all over Rachel too…" I was so disturbed now.

"Oh, we are so gonna look into his garage files… plus I'm getting a little paranoid in here." Chloe was mad too.

"Yeah. Let's bail. But maybe we should not leave without a gift."

"No, Chloe, you _are not_ taking the cozy chair." Max smiled.

"Max, do your powers include mind-reading? Or did you just rewind because I tried to steal the chair? Shit, I'm confused." Chloe held her head.

"No. We just know how you roll." Ronald smiled. "That's the power of best friendship."

I was on the way to the doorstep with Ronald but then I heard Chloe say something happily. "Cha-ching! Jackpot!"

We turned around and saw Chloe holding an envelope full of cash.

Ronald ran to Chloe and snatched the envelope. "Chloe! No! That's a handicapped fund!"

"That's five grand, Ron! I could pay Frank off tomorrow with that kind of money." Chloe wanted the envelope so badly like a hungry dog wanted a bone.

"Plus don't forget that it's Prescott's money so… it's not that big a deal." Max added.

"It could be _if I lose my job_."

"You could say that you were gone by the time somebody broke in here. Plus you saw how wasted Wells was. You think he's gonna blame you for the cash missing?"

Ronald again sighed frustrated, ripping his hair. "Why do you always have to team up to try to win an argument against me? _Fine._ But if I lose my job, that's on your head. Now let's get out of here."

Chloe jumped off the chair and hugged first Max, then Ronald and then me. "You are so cool, guys. You are really my best friends. And with the leftover dough, we're gonna hella ride off for a road trip." Chloe then left the office.

"Let's just get out of here before I grow conscience and change my mind." Ronald uttered annoyingly.

But when we left the office, Chloe was standing there with a really familiar conspiring look.

"I know that look and I don't like it." I said.

Chloe pulled out a set of keys. "Care for a midnight swim? The Blackwell pool is ours."

The moment Chloe said "Blackwell pool", I got another seizure, remembering the drowning and the dream, it all happened in few seconds and I felt like if my throat was blocked and I could not breathe.

And then I was back in that flooded basement.

* * *

 _Again a female voice called me. "Abby, find a way out!" I got a better look at her. It was Christine… no, it was Cassie. I remembered we could distinct one from another because they both had matching lockets, only with different colors._

 _With me was somebody else, I did not recognize him but it was a man. He was handcuffed to a pillar. "Don't leave me to die here, please!"_

 _I swam under the water, looking for a way out. The door were shut but there was a hatch. Maybe if I open it, I could get out from the basement the water. I tried to pry it open but… it was stuck or something. Then I felt pain in my arm._

* * *

"Abby. Abby!" Ronald was squeezing my arm. "It's gonna be OK, it's gonna be OK, just breathe. Hundred, ninety-nine…"

"…ninety-eight, ninety-seven…" I calmed down again as I came back with Max, Chloe and my brother who again had those worrying looks.

"I think the pool is the last place in Blackwell Abby wants to be in." Max looked at Chloe tactfully.

"Shit." Chloe covered her mouth. "That was a dick move from me. Sorry, Abs, I totally forgot about your PTSD …"

"It's OK. It's OK." I calmed Chloe down.

"Y'know what… you don't have to come with us if you're not up to it." Chloe tried to comfort me as she put her hand on my arm. "Just go home so you can rest. Or y'know what… I've got my spare keys to the house here. You can sleep over at my place, just for old times sakes."

"Good idea." Ronald nodded. "I got car parked outside the campus. If something happens, I'll call you."

Chloe and Max nodded and Ronald accompanied me to the car and we went straight to Chloe's house where Ronald left me on the couch and gave me my pills and a glass of water and soon enough I passed out.


	12. Episode 3: Chaos Theory - Part 3

_**Episode 3: Chaos Theory - Chapter 3**_

I felt a hand on my shoulder and someone shook me gently, with a soft, Southern accent.

"Abby. Sweetie, it's morning. _Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey, honey._ " The woman hummed.

 _Haven't heard that one in a while. And there's only one woman I know who would wake me and my brother like that to wake up and get us to the breakfast._

I opened my eyes and turned to the source of the voice. "Hey, Joyce." I rubbed my eyes so I could wake up fully. "Sorry that Ron and I crashed here unannounced." I saw Ronald looking outside the window. Guess he didn't wanna leave me. _Classic_ big brother Ronald. "Chloe let us in after what happened yesterday because she thought I'd need…"

"I know." Joyce nodded. "Honestly, we were all worried about _you_ when we heard about how you almost fell from the roof. And your accident in the pool the previous day… you have no idea how much was Chloe upset.

Are you alright?"

"… We'll see." I wasn't sure about that as I shrugged my shoulders. Luckily I had no nightmare this time. "Is Chloe here?"

"I think she is in her room still sleeping." Joyce smiled. "I'll be making breakfast soon. Could you wake her up?"

"Just give me a minute." I got up from the couch and went upstairs but then I heard Chloe's voice from her room as it was closed.

" _I dare you, kiss me now._ " _What? Who is Chloe with in there?_

I opened the door and… _it was Max kissing Chloe_. I couldn't help but cover my mouth and laugh a bit.

"Holy… Chloe!" Max and Chloe turned to me surprised. "You… and Max…" Chloe covered her mouth so she wouldn't laugh too and Max covered her face half in shame and half in amusement.

I tried to control my laughter. "Jeez, I'm sor-p-f-f-f-f… Wow. Definitely did not see that coming."

"Abby." Chloe still neighed a bit. "You wanna join us?"

"No-o-o-uh-uh-uh." I still tried to control my laughter. "But looks like Warren's chances at Max have gone down a level or two."

"You… dorks!" Max giggled as her cheeks reddened.

"You should know that Joyce is preparing breakfast downstairs." I calmed down. Then I saw Max pulling out a red and black checkered shirt from Chloe's wardrobe… and I recognized it. Rachel used to wear one like that too.

"Nice. But I gotta say that Rachel looked a lot hotter in that."

Chloe sarcastically scolded me. "Hey. She was _my_ angel and off-limits, _Abigail_." Then she turned to Max. "You're looking sick, Max. A couple tats, some piercings and we'll make a thrasher out of you yet!"

Max tried a rebellious stance. "Ready for the mosh bit, shaka brah!"

"Yeah, maybe not." Chloe said relaxed. "Go on down and say hi to Joyce. Free breakfast for you! I have to, er, wake ‚n' bake first."

I went downstairs with Max, still trying to process that _Max and Chloe actually kissed each other._ "I did not expect that from you, Max."

"I… I don't even know why did I do that."

"Isn't it obvious?" I raised my brows.

Max felt awkward now. "Please, don't say stuff like I'm in love with her because I myself don't…"

"Chill out." I neighed again. "You'll sort your feelings later."

Then my and Max's phones buzzed.

* * *

 _KATE: Abby. Max. Thank you two from the bottom of my heart for reaching out to me on the roof. You and Ronald and Christine were truly there for me at school, the only ones who truly cared. I have to believe you were sent to give me hope. You did so much more than that. My father is grateful as well and he wishes you quick recovery, Abby and I'm so sorry I put you in danger. You two will always be in our prayers. Love and Blessings. Your friend Kate._

 _MAX: Hey Kate. We're so glad you're OK. We promise to visit you as soon as we can._

 _ABIGAIL: We love you. We wish you well together with Ron and Christine. I hope we will have a tea session as soon as you recover._

 _KATE: We will. Promise. xOxO_

* * *

Max greeted Joyce but when she turned around, she was startled at first "Rachel! Oh, I mean… Max… Whew, you startled me. You fit those clothes well." Joyce measured Max head to toe. "Thank God you're not a hellraiser like her or Chloe."

"Yeah. You have no idea in what kind of crap they both could get into." I noted as I took some orange juice from the fridge."

"What exactly do you two want to chow on?"

I repeated the phrase Joyce used to yell at us when we overslept. " _Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey!_ "

Max smiled at that. "When you shouted that at us, we woke up so fast..."

"Feels like old times." Ronald smiled at the table.

"Don't even think about eating it all fast again and not leaving enough for the girls, Ronald." Joyce turned to my brother, making a mocking motherly tone.

"I'm not seventeen anymore, Joyce." Ronald commented.

"So could you help me cooking, Max. As for you, Abby, just sit down with your brother. You should rest."

I sat down next to my brother and read some newspapers while listening to her and Joyce talking, remembering the times when we were kids and Joyce telling Max how close Chloe and Rachel were.

It made me feel kinda guilty that I distanced myself from her but at least Chloe had Rachel.

 _I wonder where she is… whether she's alive… or dead… I just know that Nathan is involved in it somehow._

While we were all eating, Joyce picked up a photo album on which were all of us when we were kids. But there was one particular photo that piqued our interest. The one on which Max and Chloe were together in the kitchen. William took that photo on the day he left to picked up Joyce… and never came back while that day I was with Ronald and our family on the beach.

Ronald and I were at the table trying to enjoy the breakfast but when we saw the photo, the good mood was killed instantly.

"I… I remember this one." Max said with smile fading away from her face.

"I'm glad. William took this picture with his instant camera. It was the last picture he ever took… He had his car out right after this and… and…" Joyce tried to steady her voice but in the end sighed and turned away.

Ronald gave Joyce an understanding look as he held Joyce by her hand. "We know, Joyce. We know how much you meant to him. We're sorry." Joyce smiled as she got a hold of herself, pulling out the photo from the album and handing it to Max.

"I didn't show you this to be morbid." She said. "In fact, I'd like you to have this. This was when my baby was full of light, hopeful, positive. Everything she's not today. And this was the last time I ever saw Chloe truly happy."

Then I heard Chloe's annoyed voice from the corridor. "Did you guys have a bonding session about how much fucked up I am?"

Ronald sighed in frustration. "Chloe, please, not now."

"It's not always about you." Max said.

"Chloe, please, it's too early to start picking a fight. Eat instead with us. Just like when you were kids." Joyce pleaded her daughter.

Chloe pointed to us to come closer to her. "Ron and I will keep Mom busy. You two look into the garage for step-shit's files."

Joyce raised her voice. "Now stop whispering or I'll know you're talking about me."

Chloe tried to act annoyed. "Stop being so nosey, mother. Jeez, I can't do anything around here without everyone getting up in my shit…"

"No one can even joke with you, Chloe, you fly off the handle like that…"

"Joyce, could you cut Chloe some slack…" Ronald cut Joyce off.

Then my headache suddenly returned. "Guys, please, stop. You're giving me a migraine, damn it!" But it seemed like no one heard me.

"I need to go to bathroom." Max stood up and took me with her.

"Fine, run off and babysit yourselves when you should back me…"

"Chloe!" Ronald said with an authoritative tone. "Don't!"

"And who is paranoid now?" Joyce stood up insulted. "Listen to yourself."

"Nobody else does!"

"That's enough, damn it!" I slammed the table just to shut them all up while leaning my head on my other hand.

" _Please_. Not now. I can take just so much shit at the moment…" I tried to hold back the flashbacks and the tears in my eyes.

"I think Abby needs some moment for herself." Ronald was again worried about me.

"Sorry. We didn't mean to upset you." Chloe lowered her tone into a more apologetic one.

Ronald left me on the couch while giving me my pills and Joyce went to the kitchen, while Chloe sat down eating her breakfast and Max snuck into the garage while Joyce was not looking.

She then handed me a glass of water and my pills and I saw Ronald going into the garage with Max.

About five minutes later they both returned back and they looked very, _very_ , disturbed.

Ronald sat down next to me. "What did you find?" I asked my brother.

Ronald tried to hide the anger on his face. "I really hate this guy. I… I know he means well but this… this is too far… he's not even looking the right way…"

"Easy. Easy. Just tell me what did you see back there."

Max whispered. "He was stalking us. I mean, all of the students. You, me, Kate…

He suspected Kate of being member of Vortex Club and dealing with drugs and he… he has records of our timetables, student ID cards, he even stalked Kate in the bathroom and in the church."

"I should have punched him in the face long time ago. He hassles innocent people and wrongly accuses them of…" Ronald grinded his teeth.

"Ron. Easy. Don't do anything stupid." I held his arm.

"I know. I know. I can control myself better but… I still cannot believe this…"

Then the answering machine rang. " _David, this is Officer Corn. Just wanted to let you know that your stepdaughter's car was identified last night around the time of break-ins."_

 _Oh, no!_

* * *

 ** _oOo_**

* * *

Luckily Max rewound and deleted the message. _Phew. Awful close._

Later David entered the house. "Nice breakfast."

"David, you're back already?" Joyce was surprised.

David sounded annoyed. "I have to take a nap after writing up vandalism reports last night."

Ronald stood up, trying to look surprised. "Vandalism? What happened?"

"Ronald." David politely nodded his head to my brother. "Some little shit-ass punks broke into the swimming pool. This is what happens at these P.C. bullshit colleges. Entitled students taking over the campus!"

"What makes you think it was the students at Blackwell?" Ronald tried to act innocently.

"Who else do you think would do it? And we're gonna bust them." David sat down but then he glared at Max. "Figures you would be here. Is that your Rachel Amber Halloween costume?"

"You know more about her than me." Max said defensively.

"No. You and Chloe think you know more than anybody, like all teenagers!" David retorted.

Joyce stood up between David and Max. "Leave Max alone, David. Stop threatening students."

Chloe then stood up to him "He threatens them with surveillance cameras. So he can spy on everybody. Like he spies on all of us here."

Ronald added. "You are taking this surveillance thing too far, David."

"Not now. Don't you start…" David grinded his teeth.

"I always start shit, do I?" Chloe stretched her arms sarcastically. This argument was adding in heat which made my headache just worse and my vision, then the vision of me and my brother fending off somebody came back. I still was not sure who exactly were we fighting but there was Ian with us together. Now I could see it. It was a tall muscular man… he looked like some kind of a thug… and he seemed angry at Ian…

Again it all flashed right in front of my eyes as I tried to hold it together hearing the argument was not helping.

"… Who haven't you accused and harassed? Between your investigations into Rachel and Kate, what have you done besides get in trouble?"

"You keep coming into wrong conclusions, looking at obvious details differently, accusing innocent people of shit, like my sister!"

"You're a bully. You harassed Abby and Kate when they were both going through hell! You treat everybody like suspect, except for Nathan Prescott!" Max yelled.

I just could not take the pain in my head anymore and again I felt my heart pound rapidly. "Please, just stop. Stop!"

Everybody suddenly shut up and turned their attention to me but the flashes just kept coming increasingly.

"No. No!" I got up and ran off to the bathroom but I could not see properly and hit my head really hard as I fell down on the ground.

"Oh my God! Abby! Are you OK?" I heard Joyce scream.

I felt blood streaming on my head but then again, I was reliving the rape moment again.

" _You need to have some fun, babe!_ "

"No! No! Get off me, you creep! Get the fuck off me!"

Again I felt hands on my arms. "No! No! No!" I tried to shake the hands off but they were too strong and somebody else squeezed my hand gently.

"Abby. Abby! It's OK. You're safe. Please. Just come back with us. We're here. Please. Breathe. Breathe. _One hundred, ninety-nine, ninety-eight, ninety-seven…_ "

" _…ninety-six, ninety-five, ninety-four, ninety-three…_ "

* * *

I passed out a few moments later and then I woke up on the couch with a pack of ice on my head. I tried to get up but instead I yelped silently as I felt sharp pain on my forehead and I had a hell of a headache.

"Easy. Easy." Max held my arms, not letting me get up and Ronald handed me a glass of water and my pills.

Everybody was genuinely worried about me. I started to get sick of those pitying looks.

"You really hit your head hard, Abs. Are you OK?" Chloe asked me, she was pale as a ghost.

"I feel like I just got hit by a train, Chloe."

"Not too far from the truth. You stumbled and hit your head pretty hard on the doorknob." Joyce nodded. "You got a nasty bump there." She pointed at a spot on her forehead.

Ronald sighed. "Coming here was a bad idea."

David then came to us with an apologetic look on his face. "I… I'm sorry. I did not want this argument to upset you."

"I think there are more parties to blame here." I looked at everyone. "Sorry. But you should realize, Mr. Madsen, that surveying on everybody and treating us all like suspects was not the best approach. I told you that you were looking the wrong way."

Madsen looked down in shame. "I know that now. I know now that Kate was innocent and I should not have treated her like shit."

Joyce then sighed. "David… unless you sort your thoughts out, I think you should leave this house and rent a room in hotel, just to think about what you've been doing. When you realize what you were doing and you are ready to do things differently…"

"I… I understand. And I think I owe you an apology. To all of you." Max and Chloe widened their eyes in surprise. "Chloe… I… I'm trying but… I know I should have treated you better… I… I just want you to give me a chance."

"I think I might give you one, if you start doing things the right way." Chloe crossed her arms but genuinely smiling.

"I should go pack my things. And… consider those files gone. And Abby, what happened to you? You seemed to have PTSD…"

I flinched for a moment but I just nodded. "Was it… what happened to you three years ago?"

 _Partly._ I nodded again.

"I think you need to talk about this to somebody, Abby." David gave me an understanding look.

"I'll take Abby home now, OK?" Ronald picked me up and took me to his car and I was too weak to struggle now.

"Get better, sweetie." Joyce kissed me on my cheek.

Before Joyce closed the door, I saw Chloe get cheered up, I guess she's glad her "step-dick" as she would call him is out of her life.

 _This is so Chloe._


	13. Episode 3: Chaos Theory - Part 4

**_Episode 3: Chaos Theory - Chapter 4_**

 ** _Note:_** _The following chapters will be narrated from Ronald's point of view until further notice._

The entire way home Abigail was sleeping next to me in passenger's seat. I was worried she would be having nightmares again but right now she was sleeping like a toddler. I'm so glad she's fine now though I'm still concerned about her psychological state.

" _Why did this have to happen to Abigail and Max to get sucked into this supernatural shit?_ " I've been asking myself over and over. _I hope Ian will be at home to comfort her. She needs it._

Just when I dropped Abby off at our house, I noticed Ian wasn't around here.

"Ian. Ian!" _Hmpf. Guess he went out for some air or whatever._ I left Abby on the couch, put a blanket on her and left on table a bottle of water and her pills and kissed her on her forehead. It would kill me if she'd get worse.

I've also been thinking about the David's surveillance files about Rachel. She must have been somehow involved with Frank. I don't wanna have problems with him but… that guy is a scumbag. And David went too far.

Good thing Joyce kicked him out, he had it coming. _Asshole._

Then Max texted me.

* * *

 _MAX: On the way to the diner to do some background check on Frank. Wanna come?_

 _RONALD: On my way. Will be there in 20._

* * *

Later I met Max and Chloe outside the diner.

"What's the plan, girls?"

"We need to find some clues in Frank's RV. But it's locked." Chloe explained.

"I'll handle Frank." But then I noticed Ian walking out of the diner with a small paper bag. His hands were shaking a bit.

Max and Chloe turned around and saw him too. "What the f… Is that Abby's ex?"

"Yeah." I nodded.

"What's happening to him?" Chloe was disturbed.

I sighed. "I hope it's not what I think it is. Wait here." I approached him as he pulled out some pills from the bag. "Ian."

Ian was startled as he turned around, acting nervous. "Ron."

"I thought you'd be at home."

"I…" Ian hesitated. "I just wanted to eat in the diner, y'know…"

I looked closely at the bag. _That trademark sign… it's the same one Frank uses when he sells his shit._

"Ian. Tell me that in that bag is not what I think it is."

Ian flinched. "What do you mean?"

"You hooked up with Frank, did you?"

Ian bit his lip. "It's not what you think."

"Ian. I'm your friend. And my sister still loves you. Please. We can help you."

Ian looked down again in shame. "It's just to dull the pain. Sometimes I still feel the knife in my gut… And I am careful not to get addicted again, I swear."

I wanted to talk to him more but… " _Fine._ I believe you. I just want you to be careful. I'm really worried about you. And… was there something else that happened? I mean, with the loan sharks?"

"It's over." Ian said with firm conviction. "I left that part of my life behind long time ago. Don't worry."

"I just hope you don't have any more skeletons in your closet. Please." I begged him.

"Don't worry. I'll be OK." Ian reassured me.

"OK. See you later, Ian."

Then I entered the diner with Max and I noticed at the counter Officer Anderson Berry. _Can't say I blame him for sending me to juvie._

"Ronald Powell and Super Maxine!" He smiled at us.

" _Super Maxine?_ " Max was surprised.

"That's your new nickname around the Bay. Sorry but you did earn it for helping Kate down and saving Abby."

"Thanks, Officer Berry. Abby and I were just lucky for talking Kate down and if Ron hadn't been there too…" Max could not continue here.

"I know." Andy nodded in understanding. "I'm glad you and Ronald represent Blackwell Academy."

"Not like David Madsen." I noted. "He's… if I put it mildly, _a loose cannon_."

"We all respect him for his service but he's… too eager." Andy tried to find the right words. "Is your sister alright, Ron?"

"She's… gone through a lot of stress lately. What she needs is some rest now." Andy again nodded in understanding. After the rape incident he regularly checked up on my sister. "And as for David… he's eager to be dick to Chloe. And he hasn't treated Max, Kate and Abby well lately either."

"I know. I heard him ranting about a gun someone stole from him."

Then I turned around and… well, well, well… there was that fucking _Prickscott_ behind us, brooding. Max approached him and Nathan looked up in surprise. " _Rachel_? Whatevethefuck? Oh, it's "Max Amber". Nice outfit.

By the way, thanks for getting me suspended you twee bitch." Then he lowered his voice. "You're lucky this is a public place."

"You're the one who should consider himself lucky, you little pissant." I approached him and Nathan flinched. "If you're smart, you're not gonna rage out on Max in front of me, or the cop." I nodded at Berry.

Nathan scoffed. "You two and your fucked up sister should not have bitch-snitched me to the principal."

"Nathan." I bang his table lightly. "Don't. You. Dare."

"You think I'm afraid of you?" Nathan laughed at me but I'm sure he flinched.

"I think you're _smarter_ than trying to go after us." I said calmly. "You know what will happen to you if you so much as lay a finger on Abby."

Then I noticed Frank in the corner, eating beans. _Wait a second…_ I left Max and Nathan alone but I was ready to interfere should Nathan lose it.

I approached Frank. "Hey, Frank."

He turned up to me. "Ronald." He greeted me politely.

"Did Ian just hook up with you?"

"Why the fuck do you-" Frank was surprised.

"Because Ian is my friend and my sister still loves him. I am just expressing concern about him. Nothing more. Nothing less. I'm not looking for trouble." I raised my hand to calm Frank down.

Frank looked in front of himself for a moment. "All I gave him was some better meds for pain, that's it."

"Don't the doctors…"

"He told me he needed… stronger stuff to dull it."

I sighed. " _Jesus._ Frank. Please, just… don't get him into trouble. For his own and for my sister's sake."

"Depends on if your buddy is smart. You can't hold me responsible if the loan sh…" Frank cut himself off.

" _Loan shark_? Frank. Please. What happened?" I noticed Frank slipped. But then he gave me a threatening look.

"Get the fuck out of here, now. You never heard this from me, understood?"

"Frank. I just want to protect him. Please."

"The best thing you and your sister can do for Ian is keep your distance. Now _get out. Now!_ " Frank raised his voice. I could tell he was being serious, it was in his eyes.

I raised my hands and quickly left the diner.


	14. Episode 3: Chaos Theory - Part 5

_**Episode 3: Chaos Theory - Chapter 5**_

"I saw you argue with Frank. What happened?" Chloe asked me while waiting outside the diner in front of Frank's RV with a bone in her hand.

"He kinda slipped on Ian and whatever it was, it got him spooked. He kicked me out of the diner and told me to stay the hell away from Ian, for all of our sakes. From what it looks like, he got into a lot of trouble, or he might still be. He said something about a loan shark before he snapped on me." I explained.

"Jesus Christ." Chloe wiped her hand. "Where is Max?"

 _Speak of the Devil and he shall appear._ Max got out a few minutes later with Frank's keys to RV in her hands. "Nice going, Spider-Max." Chloe smiled.

"I'm not even gonna ask how you did it." I smiled. But then I noticed there was something in Max's eyes… a hint of… disappointment? Sadness? "What happened?"

"… I'm not sure yet. Let's just get into his RV."

"Ready?" Chloe was about to open the door. As soon as she opened it, Pompidou jumped out and Max threw the bone to the parking lot so that the dog could chew on it.

"We need to be quick. Get in, find what we need and get the hell out before Pompidou tears us apart."

We entered the RV and… _Jesus, what a mess._

Dirty dishes, mud and dirt on the floor, footprints, clothes lying all over the place, bunch of pills… and as I looked into cupboards, there was a lot of sweet food, soda cans, candy… _no wonder he could have a loose temper._

Chloe looked through Frank's laptop while Max and I snooped around. Max found Chloe's gun and she was happy to have it back.

And then I wondered… what if Frank hides his dirty stuff in the vents? I looked into a hatch and through it, I saw a book… _Is it Frank's logbook? Bingo!_

Soon enough Max and I found letters from Rachel to Frank in the logbook and in a photo of Rachel hugging Pompidou and another photo where Rachel was together with Frank, happy and smiling.

In the letter in the logbook was:

* * *

 _Frank._

 _That was not cool what you did. And don't blame the drugs. You actually scared me and I thought you'd never chill out._

 _I've never seen you act that way and the next time will be the last. I'm a Leo and we don't look back. I care about you, us, so maybe we need to break our routine._

 _Xo RA._

* * *

 _Jesus. Abby was right. Rachel was cheating on Chloe with that asshole. I'm sorry even she turned her back on Chloe._

Max and I read the next letter.

* * *

 _Frankie B._

 _Hope you read this first thing in the morning. Sorry about last night. I was being a monstrous bitch and took it out on you._

 _And poor Pompidou. There's a lot of weird shit going on in my life and sometimes I feel like I'm never going to get out of Arcadia Bay. Thank god for you. You're one of the best things I have here and I smile when I think of us together. Let's just drive out of here forever._

 _Love u always._

 _RA._

* * *

When Max showed Chloe the photo and the letters, Chloe complained angrily, with a lot of hurt in her voice. "It makes me ill that Rachel posed like this for Frank… or wrote him love letters… I can't believe she was banging Frank! Abby was right! Rachel straight up lied to my face! Why didn't she say anything?"

"That's why. Listen to yourself. She knew how you would react." I realized.

Chloe snorted. "Then she wasn't much of a friend, huh? Just another person who shits all over me. Why does everybody in my life let me down? My dad gets killed, you two and Abby bail on me and leave me while my life goes to shit, my mother gloms onto step-fucker, now Rachel betrays me…"

"Chloe, calm down, please. Nobody betrayed you…"

Chloe snapped and stood up. "Bullshit, who hasn't?! Fuck everybody!"

She was about to leave and opened the door but I closed them again. She was starting to get emotional again. "What the hell, Ron? Let me…"

I grabbed Chloe by her arms so she would not punch me like she used to back in Blackwell when I busted her during fights and glared her straight into her eyes. "Chloe! Elizabeth! Price! You are going to take that back right this second!"

Chloe's eyes were starting to fill with hurtful tears but I had to calm her down and knock some sense into her head. "Look into my eyes and tell me that _you did not mean every single word you just said_!" I kept a steady but harsh tone as I shook her. Chloe was gonna throw a punch at me but I stopped her hand.

"We _did not_ betray you! You cannot blame us for your life going to hell! Your dad died and ever since then your life was nothing but disappointment? Yes! But he did not choose to die!

Did Abby and I keep some distance from you for the last five years? Yes! But stop for a moment and think about it!

We _were_ there for you and tried to help you but you were the one who ran away from Joyce for a first couple of weeks and returned as somebody completely different! We did not even recognize you anymore and while we tried to reach you, _you_ were the one who did not make it easy on _us_!

So don't you dare blame everybody for your life being so miserable! In the end, your life, your responsibility!

Yes, Max did not write to any one of us and yes, we did not tell you that Max was back but it was not because we betrayed you. It was because we were afraid. Just think back and look at yourself.

I am not saying that _only_ you alone are to blame for your life but for fuck's sake, grow up, damn it!

Right now, Max, Abby and I are trying to help you and make it up to you so don't say that we fucked _you_ over, that would be so fucking unfair from you!

I get that right now you are pissed as hell but Jesus, get your head finally straight, woman!"

"You just don't get it, Ron!" She tried to shake me off. "I can't trust anybody! Everybody pretends to care, until they don't!"

"That's not true, Chloe." I still tried to keep a steady voice. " _We do care_ but you need to understand there are not easy ways to help you. Please, just calm down and think about it. Just breathe, OK? Breathe."

Chloe breathed in and out in quick intervals until she finally calmed down as I was squeezing her shoulder and she sniffed.

"I… I'm sorry, Ron. I did not mean to say that you don't give a shit about me… but… you just don't get it…" She wiped her tears.

"Then help us understand."

"Just leave me alone, Ron." Chloe shook her head and brushed me off while opening the door.

"Chloe…"

"Ron, please… just… I need some space…"

"Chloe!" Max ran after her when Chloe entered her truck and drove off with Max.

I noticed an envelope on the floor. It was marked " _Ian_ ". _What the hell?_

I took the envelope and went into my car, looking into the envelope. There was cash, probably payment for drugs and a letter.

* * *

" _Frank._

 _I know you are trying to cover Ian's ass. I don't give a fuck if you feel remorseful or honour-bound to him by debt because your buddy Kevin almost killed him but you are going stay the fuck out of my business or you're gonna end up as fish food at the bottom of the sea._

 _The sooner you tell me where he is, the sooner I'll get out of your back, you ass-sucker._

 _J.B._ "

* * *

 _J.B.? Who the hell is that? Is that why Frank is so afraid? A loan shark with initials J.B.?_ I went out and then I met outside an old friend of mine from juvie who recognized me.

"Ronnie Powell!"

"Shane White!" I shook his hand. "It's been what… almost three years? How are you doing, man? And what brings you here?"

"… Let's just say somebody owes my boss money… and a little more…" His voice sounded bitter. _Don't tell me that you are still trying to be a street thug._

"Didn't I tell you to stay away from trouble?"

"Hey. Gotta make living somehow and y'know that with my record, I can't have a decent job."

"Doesn't mean you cannot try. Look at me." I smiled.

"A security guard? How much does that pay you?" Shane snorted.

"Enough to make a living for me and Abigail."

"Why didn't you move back with your parents? Oh, you know what, never mind." I was about to answer. "Independency and this sort of bullcrap."

Shane then picked up his phone as it buzzed from his pocket. "I'll find him, Mr. Brown. He'll pay the money or he will face the consequences."

Shane turned around as he saw a car drive by the road and I'm sure I saw Ian in driver's seat. "We'll catch up later." Shane frowned and in his eyes was fire as he saw the driver. Shane smiled at me and left.

"Sure. See ya."

 _Shane was always a bit dangerous if you got on his bad side and if he's after Ian after Ian killed somebody in self-defense… this cannot be good if he works for a thug._

I went back home and called Ian's family. They filled me in. Ian killed in self-defense a loan shark and three his bodyguards but his nephew, Jack Brown slipped out because the cops had little evidence on him and when I googled him and called Andy Berry, I found out that Shane was one of the known associates of Jack Brown.

 _I need to protect Ian and Abby before they get into trouble._

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

 _Max was alone in her room in Blackwell, looking at an old photograph of her and Chloe together five years ago…_

* * *

 ** _The following plot takes place in an Alternate Timeline_**

I have no idea how long I was out. Finally I could enjoy some rest from the shift at hospital. I looked outside the window and I saw an old, familiar face looking at my sister's grave. Those blue eyes, the freckles on her face, the brunette hair…

I haven't seen her in long time and I can't blame her for being so sad now and her face full of tears as I went out.

"Max? Max Caulfield? You grew up." I smiled at Max.

She looked at me and seemed… surprised, shocked and sad at the same time. "Ron… what happened to Abby? I mean, tell me what happened here in Bay to her?"

I sighed. I spent years trying to forget but I can't blame Max for wanting some answers. She wasn't here after all. "I guess I owe you that much to tell you personally. I get that you could not make it to the funeral, Max."

"I… I wanna make it up to you, Ron. To you, and to Chloe." Max sniffed.

"Max. Calm down. I'm not blaming you for anything. Just come here." I comforted her and accompanied her inside the house.


	15. Episode 4: Dark Room - Part 1

_**Episode 4: Dark Room - Chapter 1**_

Max sat down on the couch and I brought glasses of water for her and me while she looked at our old photos.

"So… after five years in Seattle you're coming back home to see all of us, huh?" I tried to comfort Max. _It seems there is a difference between knowing that my sister is dead and seeing it for herself._ She was still quietly sniffing while looking at Abby's memorial photo on the wall over the fireplace and I embraced her.

"Max. It's OK. I miss her too."

"What happened, Ron?" Max managed to sob out. "What exactly happened?"

"Well… it was a few weeks after Chloe's accident when we got a letter from Joyce and William." Max flinched at hearing this.

"Chloe…" Max gasped horrified.

"Yeah." I nodded. "It really hit us hard but Abby took it the worst. After all that mess I started med school.

We were in a camp on the beach when it all happened, Abby went out for a surfing race but… I guess she was still distracted by what happened to Chloe. We kept talking about it, she was unfocused, the coach wanted to talk her out of it but you know her. She could not keep balance when the high tide came and she hit her head hard on a rock…"

I remembered how the medics and the lifeguard tried to resuscitate her.

"We did what we could to help her but before we could get her to the shore, it was…" I stopped here. I still have that memory freshly burned into my mind.

"… too late." Max finished and then she covered her face with her hands while sobbing. She broke down completely.

"Shhh. It's OK. It's OK, Max." I hugged her.

"What have I done?" Max cried out.

"This is not your fault, Max."

"My fa… this… my…"

"Don't worry about it. Please. Nobody blames you for anything. At least you tried to reach us. I'm glad that you sent me and Chloe letters. The least you can do now is to be here for Chloe. And it's about time for me to check up on her anyway." I looked at the clock.

"Check up?" Max looked up confused.

"Come with me, Max. She'd be thrilled to see you again, I'm sure." Max nodded and smiled. I'm sure Max and Chloe would be happy to see each other again after such a long time.

I drove Max to Price residence.

* * *

I rang the bell and waited until William opened the door.

"Ronald Powell and with him Max Caulfield." He turned his eyes to Max. "Taking a break after taking Seattle by storm. Nobody thought we'd ever see you again after you left for the big city."

"No. I'd never do that to anyone of you. And I'm sorry I wasn't here when Abby…"

"It's OK, Max. Chloe died to see at least you and Ronald here together." William called out in the corridor. "Chloe! You have visitors here!"

"Max! You came back!" Chloe came to us and Max covered her mouth in shock and I had to hold her hand. _I guess it's different to know and to see with your own eyes._

* * *

After a few moments of Max trying to let this sink in, we all walked down the beach. Well, Max and I were walking while Chloe was driving on her wheelchair. For a few moments, none of us said a word. I noticed that there were again whales washing out on the shore. _What the hell is happening?_

"It feels so weird hanging out together again." Chloe commented.

"Yeah. But I'm glad that we are though. I just wish Abby was here too." Max wiped her tears.

"Yeah." Chloe looked down. "It… it just sucks what happened. I keep asking myself if I had been more careful back then, maybe she'd be here."

"Chloe… don't dwell on what could have been. It was just an awful coincidence. You can't keep beating yourself up." I smiled at Chloe.

"You probably wanted to avoid awkward conversations like this, Max. Sorry, I didn't mean to be bitchy."

"Yeah. Pretty much." Max sheeped out.

"At least you sent me actual letters. You two definitely did more for me than anybody else. It was probably easier for you to write than to visit me. Sorry again."

Chloe sighed. "Look. The worst thing you can do is to treat me like a baby, guys. Ron. Please. I don't need you to babysit me much." She pleaded me. "All I want is to laugh and talk shit with my best friends."

We stopped when we got a nice view at the sunset.

"This is seriously the best spot to see the sunset. How do the photographers call that again?" Chloe asked.

"The golden hour." Max and I replied. Max looked at me confused. "What? I might have gone on med school but I have other hobbies too." I smiled and Chloe smirked a bit.

"Without you two here, I'd have no clue. Bet you could take some amazing shots, Max." Then we looked at the whales washed up at the shore. "Poor guys. I kinda know how they feel…"

"You're a real survivor, Chloe. I know you have to deal with so much."

"Max, please. Don't pity me. I can do that… along with my parents. Dad still feels guilty about buying me that car. And sometimes he thinks that if he hadn't, then Abby might…" Chloe sniffed.

"Chloe. Please. It's OK." I held her hand. "It's not anyone's fault. Bad stuff just happens, that's it."

After a few moments of comforting Chloe and wiping her tears off her cheeks, Max weakly sheeped out. "Are we OK to talk about the accident?"

"We never actually have gotten a chance, huh?" Chloe smiled. "To be honest, there's not much to say. Some prick in an SUV cut me off and I flew into the ditch."

"Do you… remember everything?" Max asked.

"I saw everything in bullet time. I felt my back snap… and that was the last thing I ever felt in my body. When I woke up in the hospital, I literally could not move a muscle."

"Jesus." Max gasped. "I… I don't know what to say."

"No need to say anything, Max." I said. "It's good enough that we're here together. At least Chloe did not vanish out of the blue like that girl from Blackwell. No offense."

"It's cool."

"What missing girl?" Max looked at me.

"Rachel… Amber… I think." I tried to remember and the name got Max's attention. "It was all over the news. I don't even wanna think what her family must be going through right now."

"Yeah. I think I saw her name in a news article. This… this feels like a totally different world than when we were kids… and it feels so weird without Abby here too…" Max looked at the horizon, trying not to sob again while mentioning my sister's name.

"More like an end of the world after the snow and the eclipse." Chloe muttered.

"Yeah. I gotta admit that some weird shit is going on in here." I nodded.

"As long as we're all here together, I don't feel afraid. I just wish she was here too." Max smiled finally.

"It feels like we're all kids again." Chloe commented.

"Look, guys. I'm sorry I wasn't here for you." Max looked at us. "That sucked from me. You are my best friends. I… I wish I'd been there for you when I could have."

"Right now you're doing great. That's what matters." I patted Max's shoulder. "Abby would be glad that you are hanging out with us again."

"It doesn't feel that way." Max could not even look at me. "It feels more like everything went to hell because of my one crappy decision."

"It's not like you had a choice about moving to Seattle. Max, please. Don't beat yourself up. You're talking like everything that happened here was your fault."

Chloe then said tiredly. "Could you please get me back home, guys? My nose is getting cold."

"Sure, Chloe." I picked her wheelchair. "Maybe we could watch a movie, just like when we were kids."

"Sounds like a good idea." Max nodded.

"You see any land, Navigator Ronald?" Chloe smiled.

"Aye aye, full sails, First Mate, Max." I looked at Max.

"Just like old times, huh?" Max finally shined with happiness a bit.


	16. Episode 4: Dark Room - Part 2

_**Episode 4: Dark Room - Chapter 2**_

We brought Chloe back home as I laid her on the stretcher in her room which was a garage a few years back. Max was impressed by the looks of it.

"This is a pretty high-tech lair."

"Feels like a high-tech cell most of the time." Chloe frowned. "But I am lucky my parents and Ron bust their asses to take care of me. No offense, Ron." She glanced at me.

"None taken. Anything for you, Chloe. You need all the help you can get."

"I know it's hard for you, guys."

"Joyce and William are glad you're with them." Max comforted Chloe.

"Right." Chloe held out a sarcastic tone. "Especially when they can't even take a walk alone. Sometimes I act like a total teenage brat just to give them an excuse to yell at me. Pathetic, I know." She lowered her voice into disappointment.

"Chloe, you're a great daughter. You're kind and sensitive, when you don't even have to be."

"Trust me, I still get my rage on."

"Especially when I or a nurse have to watch while you take a dump so we can wipe your bum or when the doctors flip you around like a science doll."

"Ron…" Chloe glared at me with her cheeks reddening while chuckling.

"Sorry. I was just trying to lighten the mood."

"It's OK." She smiled at me.

Max looked down while rubbing her hair. "I can't even imagine how hard it must be for you, guys. But you two are still amazing. Always have been since we were kids."

"Thanks again for coming here together, guys." Chloe cleared her throat. "I, uh… need to get my drink on. Can you bring me some water?"

Max picked up a cup of water with a straw and put the straw in Chloe's mouth. "Drink up, buttercup."

"Oh man, no wonder my throat is dry. I don't think I've talked this much the whole year." Chloe sipped the water.

"Have you ever thought about doing a podcast or something?" Max asked.

"I wish I could punch you in the face right now." Chloe giggled. "A podcast? Dude, I am a pod in a cast. Boring."

"Ouch. It was just a thought." Max apologized.

"I know you're just trying to help." Chloe calmed Max down.

"Yeah. That's become a bad habit of mine."

"You sound like an adult now, Max." I pat her shoulder. "It feels like a lifetime ago when we were kids."

"To me, it seems like yesterday we were little brats here, watching "Power Rangers", destroying the kitchen and Ron was chasing us because we stole his keys to the car." Max smirked.

"Oh my God, we covered everything in flour, even my parents." Chloe let out a weak laugh.

"And everytime I asked you what did you do again, in the end I had to bribe Abby into telling me where did you hide my stuff."

"Yeah. Those were hilarious times." Max wiped the tear from her cheeks again and I had to wipe them from Chloe's cheeks.

"But a long time ago. You two… you two are the only people that I grew up with who visit me. I... I wish Abby was here with us too."

"She'd be proud of us all, Chloe." I rubbed her hair. "I know that."

"As you can see, I can't keep all my other friends away."

"I know this is a dumb question but… are you feeling lonely here?" Max asked.

"Yeah. Dumb question." I smirked.

"If something, I don't mind it. I can't exactly go to a party like a rock star though or get in any teen trouble with the folks."

"I think you have amazing parents, Chloe." Max held her hand.

"You have no idea how hard it has been on all of us, Max." Chloe sighed. "Our insurance sucks and the medical bills are fucking insane."

"Also, sometimes it's hard for me to balance the work at hospital and taking care of Chloe at the same time. Sometimes I have to work my ass off taking long shifts just so I could have enough time to look after Chloe during the rest of the week."

"Can they even afford to pay the bills?"

"No way they can." I said honestly.

Chloe nodded. "They keep the numbers away from me but it doesn't take much research to find out that I'm costing them a million dollars a year."

"Chloe, you're priceless." Max smiled. "Uh, no pun intended."

Chloe giggled weakly. "You are such a geek. That's why I love you."

"And that's why it's cool to hang out together, girls."

"I know a geek when I see one. See, I'm practically a human entertainment system. It would be sweet to chill out and watch a movie, you know, like when we'd spend the night here together."

"That sounds great." I nodded. "What do you wanna watch?"

Chloe thought about that for a moment. "Uh, I think I'm in, like, a mellow "Blade Runner" mood. I always cry at the end. Plus you know I always wanted a cool colored bangs like Pris."

"I know." Max agreed. "You would look incredible with blue hair."

"More like a teenage menace with all that punk rock wanna-be stuff." Max and Chloe chuckled at that.

"Let's get this show on the road. And you better not fall asleep on us like you always do when we watch movies." Max clapped her hands as she was about to leave.

"I guess Ron's gonna snore too loud for me to sleep anyway." Chloe joked.

"Hey!" I said sarcastically as the girls laughed.

"I won't fall asleep. Not when you two are here, guys." Chloe said after a moment of laughter

Max then picked up the DVD and put it into the player while I turned on the TV so we could watch the movie.

* * *

Everyone fell asleep after a while and when I woke up, it was morning, so I gently shook Max and Chloe.

"I can't believe you fell asleep so fast, Chloe. How dare you?" Max looked at her, smiling.

"I know you were a beat down after the day with me. And Blade Runner is a pretty dreamy movie to watch at night. Do you think Deckard is a replicant?"

When Max didn't answer and her eyes were still blinking rapidly, I realized it. "I guess she's not as much awake as we are."

"I'm sorry I crashed so hard. Were you OK?"

"I have a mother and father when you're not falling asleep on me."

"You are really bitchy in the morning." I laughed.

"Thank the company I keep." Chloe shot out. "Yesterday was such a blast. I haven't had that much fun well…"

"Since the accident and since Abby, yeah." I finished.

"She'd be happy that we are hanging out together like that." Max nodded.

Chloe looked at the ceiling, smiling happily, once after a few years. "I know things were different when we were kids but being together with you guys made me feel like when we were little pirates, jumping and running through the forests again. It meant a lot to me just to chill out with you and bullshit." Suddenly she groaned in pain. "Ahh, fuck, no. I'm getting my regular head pains…"

"I'll get the morphine injector." I stood up heading to the bathroom.

"Morphine injector?" Max asked.

"Its-ahh. It's total Star Trek shit. You can't even see the needle."

"Seriously, Max. Without that, Chloe's gonna be in a whole new world of pain soon enough." Max nodded and she came with me.

"I can't even imagine how hard it must be for all of you to take care of her." Max said sadly.

"Yeah. Me, William and Joyce need to work their asses because of that. They are really deep in debt. Mom and Dad did lend some money but still… it's not enough help for Chloe. I need to look after her when she's alone.

Joyce even took a job at Pan Estates for Prescotts." Max frowned at that while I nodded.

"And Abby was scared shitless, even if she tried to bury it and get a hold of herself. I guess she thought she was strong enough to handle us but a teenage girl can keep her focus for so long… Chris, sometimes she blames herself as much as Chloe does."

"Chris?" Max looked at me.

"Oh… Christine Masters. She was a good friend to Abby together with her twin sister, Cassandra. But they were still trying to prove to each other that they were better at surfing than the other. But the weather during that race was really shitty. We all tried to talk Abby out of it… sometimes the twin sisters blame themselves as much as Chloe does."

Max looked down for a moment again. "I wish I'd been a better friend to all of you."

"You did what you could, Max. And you are still doing it now. Please, stop beating yourself up. You're Chloe's best friend for a reason. You're here when she needs you. And I'm also doing what I can to help her."

"I guess you're right, Ron." Max tried to smile, to no avail.

"Do you know what the worst thing is?" She looked again at me.

"I haven't told her yet but Chloe… doesn't have much time left, I'm afraid. From what I can figure, her respiratory system is failing and… I guess you can figure what's happening…"

"Jesus Christ." Max gasped. "Does Joyce and William know?"

"Yeah."

"How are they taking it?"

"Not well, unfortunately. But they have come to terms with that already."

We picked up the morphine from the bathroom upstairs and went back to Chloe's room.

Chloe could barely breathe when we entered the room. "Finally. The blue pill, Max."

"I'm sorry. I'm nosy but not precise."

"It's easy, Max. I'll show you." I guided her hands to the IV.

"OK, but get ready to yell for your folks if I screw up." Max said with uncertainty in her tone.

"Trust me, I will." Chloe nodded.

"It's gonna be OK, Max, don't worry." I comforted her.

"Of course, my pain just keeps getting worse… but you caught me on a good day." Chloe laid her head down on the pillow again. "I'm so grateful I'm even able to hang out with you, guys."

"You are so adorable." Max fondled Chloe's hair. "Do you want anything else?"

Chloe snorted for a moment. "Um, stop me if I'm being too emo but can you grab one of the photo albums over there? I'd like to check out some pictures of us when we were kids."

Max nodded while smiling. "Please, my diary is like emo ground zero. Plus Max Caulfield does not pass up a photo op with Chloe Price. Ever." Max picked up one of the albums and sat down with me next to Chloe's bed and we looked over the photos of us and my sister at the lighthouse when we were kids.

"Oh my God, look how little we are there! We look like toys!"

"You are so cute. I almost wanna eat you here…" I smiled, looking at how adorable Chloe, Max and Abigail were together while I was the big guy kinda out of their league.

"My Dad was so pissed. He actually wanted to give us a time-out." Chloe smirked.

"And you laughed at him." Max smiled. "My dad would have banished me."

"And me and my dad were gonna drag Abby out if we had to."

Next we looked at the pictures of us dressed as pirates and Chloe and Max cooking in Price's kitchen five years ago.

"Literally seems like yesterday." Max sighed.

"I wish it was." Chloe said.

"Me too." Max agreed.

"Guys…" Chloe said with a lot more sadness in her tone than usually. "Max, listen, my… my respiratory system is failing and… I've heard the doctors talking about it when they thought I was zonked out. So I know I'm just putting off the inevitable while my parents suffer along… and I will, too. This isn't how I want things to end."

Then I realized what was Chloe saying. "No. Chloe, no. You… you can't. Chloe, you… tell me you are not thinking about what I think you are."

"What are you saying, Chloe?" Max gasped, horrified as much as I was.

"I'm saying that hanging out together with you has been so special. I just wanted to feel like when we were kids running around Arcadia Bay... and everything was possible." Her and Max's eyes were filling with tears slowly. "And you two made me feel that way today. I want this time with you, guys, to be my last memory…

Do you understand?"

I tried to hold back the tears while nodding and holding Chloe's hand. I could understand that there was no helping her anymore, only prolonging her suffering and delaying the inevitable. In the end, there was only one way Chloe's fate was heading.

"I… I understand, Chloe but… do you realize what are you asking us to do? Don't ask us to do this to you, Chloe, I can't…" Max shook her head, sniffing. "I had another friend who wanted to end it all and I did everything I could to try and save her life. How can I be responsible for ending yours? I mean, there's gotta be another way."

"You were there for your friend, no matter what, Max." Chloe said. "Now I'm asking you to do the same for me."

"Chloe, please, no. I… How are we supposed to live with ourselves after that? How can we look into your parents's eyes? Don't ask us to kill you, please." I held her hand.

"We want to help you, Chloe, but… not like this. This help, it… it's just hurting. And it's not what Abby would want."

Chloe retorted. "She wouldn't want to see me suffer like this. At least you guys have a choice. When you want to make a decision, you can just do it. Look at me. I'm at the mercy of everybody. For once, I want to make my own choice… the most important one in my life. Please… help me, guys.

You were there for me, Ron and tried to help me as much as you could. You are like a brother to me. You took care of me as if I was your family.

I never asked for you to help me but I appreciated it. This is the _one time_ I'm gonna ask for your help. Please, help me end this pain."

Max and I looked in Chloe's eyes one last time. "Chloe…" Max and I stood up and held the morphine drip.

"I'll just drift asleep… dreaming of us here together… forever…" Max and I turned the drip up. "…and… I'll see Abby on the other side…" she shed her tears from her cheeks again.

"I'm so proud of you for following your dream, Max. Don't you forget about me. I love you, guys."

I held her hand again. "Goodbye, Chloe." I could not hold back my tears any longer.

"See you around." Chloe said weakly as her eyes start to close.

"Sooner than you think." Max said while crying as she picked up the photo.


	17. Episode 4: Dark Room - Part 3

_**Episode 4: Dark Room - Chapter 3**_

 ** _Note:_** _The following chapters will be narrated from Abby's point of view until further notice._

 _I was back at the junkyard with Max and Chloe, carrying flashlights until it all faded away, and then I heard a gunshot and a soft "THUD"!_

 _Then the scenery changed again and I was again in some half ruined building and I felt something craggy around my wrists as I had my hands behind my back, like if they were tied by a rope and I felt cold almost everywhere on my skin… I was shaking from the chill and I felt water drops streaming down my skin and the cold breeze outside…_

 _The place around me was a wreck. It was like if the place has been abandoned for years._

 _And then somebody was laughing, like if he was enjoying something, when I saw his face, it was again the guy from the vision I had when I tried to help Kate, then the chill ran through my spine, I was shivering with fear, around him a couple of people, they all had this thug attitude and posture…_

* * *

"Aaaah! No, get away!" I woke up on the couch in our living room as Ronald held my arms gently.

"Shhhh. It's OK, Abby. It's OK. I'm here, you're safe, Abby, nothing's happening to you, you're safe, just breathe, breathe." He looked into my eyes.

I tried to calm down and steady my breath as I hugged my brother. "My God, Ron. It was horrible." I could not hold back the fear inside me and got a hold of myself as I let out my tears of horror and also of relief.

"It wasn't real, Abby. I know you're scared but don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you, sis." He patted me on my back as he gave me a tight hug. "Was it the storm again?"

I shook my head. "No… it… it was something else. Somebody… somebody attacked me, Max and Chloe and then… I was held a hostage by somebody…"

"What?" Ronald hissed as he held my arms more tightly. Then he looked me in the eyes. "Abby. I know it's hard for you but I need you to take a deep breath and I need you to tell me everything you remember. Right now."

And so I did. I remembered being with Max and Chloe outside in the night before somebody shot at us and then I was kidnapped by a dangerous thug. When I mentioned _that_ particular part, Ronald held my arms as if he never intended to let me go and then he had that overprotecting look in his eyes. "Abby. I need you to stay with me. You are not gonna go anywhere without telling me and you are not getting out of my sight. No matter what, I don't wanna lose my sight of you, understand?

If you need some space and go somewhere by your own, tell me, either in person or call me. You are gonna keep me in the loop about where you are and what are you doing, 24/7, you got it?"

I knew I should not worry him even more at this point so I just nodded. I knew I could not afford to take any chances anymore.

"Now let's go see Kate, alright?" Ronald asked as he smiled.

I nodded.

* * *

Ronald drove me to the hospital but as I entered, the flashbacks from that night returned… after that attempt at raping me when they carried me on the gurney and the pain in my chest came back. I closed my eyes as Ronald squeezed my hand and I again breathed in and out.

"It's OK, Abby. You're safe with me, just breathe, you're safe with me…"

"Ronald? Abby?" I heard a familiar gentle male voice as I came back and turned to the source.

"Doctor Colin Doyle." Ronald smiled as he offered his hand to the doctor. "It's been a long time."

"Two years." Doyle nodded. He looked after me when Ronald was in juvie, examining me after the bar incident and offering me therapist sessions as well. "I saw on television what happened to you on the campus, Abby. Do you need to talk?"

I bit my tongue and looked down for a moment. "Abby, you know that you can trust me. I'm your friend. If you need to get something off your chest, I'm here to listen." Doyle said with a caring tone as he put his hand on my shoulder and in his eyes was sincerity and sympathy.

 _You have no idea how many things do I want to tell you, Doyle but first of all you would not believe me and second of all I do not have enough time to explain myself to you. I'm sorry._

"I… there's a lot going on around me, lately, Doyle and I would love to talk to you but… I'm sorry. I… It's just not the right time for it. I just came here to visit my friend."

"Oh. Kate Marsh, I assume?" I straightened myself in surprise and Ronald cleared his throat. "I read the news and I know about the two of you. We talked together when she was brought here and she told me that you two were really good friends."

"Really?"

"At first she blamed herself for putting you in danger and she told me she's been under a lot of pressure lately. She's a rather nice girl."

I nodded. "Yeah. What's been happening to her is unfair."

"I know. I believed her when she said she was not herself when she was wasted and kissed all those boys on the video and when she mentioned Nathan Prescott, I knew she got involved in some deep shit.

The types like him don't belong at Blackwell but as long as the Prickscotts got the chunk of almost everything in this town…"

Ronald and I nodded in agreement. "Yeah."

"She's in Room 209. She'll be glad to see you two, guys."

"Thank you, Doyle." I shook his hand.

"Anything for you, Abby."

When we got on the floor where was Kate's room, I saw Max and Chloe in the corridor.

"Hey there." I called. Max and Chloe turned to us and then Max ran to me, her eyes almost filling with tears as she choked out.

"Abby. Oh God."

"Max." I patted her back.

"I…"

"Max. Don't worry, I'm fine now."

Max nodded as she tried to swallow the emotions building up inside of her. "Yeah. Everything is fine now." I noticed she was holding back tears as she let me go. "I… I'm just glad to see that you're OK and… and… I'm sorry about what… what you had to go through… because of…"

"Shhh, Max. It's OK, it's all gonna be fine." I held her shoulder as she nodded and panted out in relief.

Chloe stood up. "Are you feeling better?"

I nodded but I did not plan to tell them about my vision. She then had an apologetic look in her face.

"Look, I just… wanna say I'm sorry about how I flipped out on you back in the diner, Abby. I was a total dick for blowing a fuse when you answered Kate's call the other day. Good thing you ignored me. I had no idea how much shit she was going through. And you two helped her… just like you helped me." I could see how deep the regret was in her eyes.

"It's OK, Chloe, don't worry." I smiled. _At least she got some reason now._ "I'm just glad you understand why I did not back you up."

"We're all on the same boat, Chloe." Ronald said. "And we're gonna make sure that Nathan's sorry ass is gonna end up behind the bars for a long time."

"Let's go see her, guys, OK?" Max looked at us as we were about to enter Kate's room.

Kate was sitting on her chair, drawing on paper as she looked at us and her face shining with happiness as she smiled, stood up and hugged us all tightly.

"Max. Abby. Ronald."

"Oh, we're so glad you're fine, Kate." I sighed with relief as I let out my tears of joy.

"Likewise, Abby. I… I'm glad you came here. I thought I'd never see either one of you ever again. I feel so ridiculous after what happened… I'm so sorry about what did I put you through… I prayed for you…"

"Kate. Listen." I held her shoulder. "You have nothing to be sorry about, none of this is your fault, OK? Other people are to blame."

"You have no idea how happy we are to see you again." Max rubbed Kate's hair gently. "You look awesome."

"I know this might be a stupid question…." Ronald mewwed out with awkwardness in his tone. "…but… are you feeling fine?"

"Now that you are here, I'm feeling even better than ever." Kate smiled as she hugged my brother again and he returned the hug.

"I… I'm sorry I hadn't done more for you, Kate. I… wish I could have prevented all this mess before it was too late…"

"Ronald, I'm not blaming you for anything. I'm just glad that you did what you could. I… I felt so lost and alone… but… when I saw how much did all of you care and how hard were you trying…"

"We know, Kate, we know." I caressed her cheek. "What matters is that you're OK now."

Then she looked at me with a little worry. "Your forehead. What happened, Abby?" I flinched at the question.

"Uhh… I just was not paying much attention and stumbled and I hit my head. It's nothing, really." _Even at her weak moment she has to show how much she cares about others. Why can't there be more people like her._

"I'm sorry about what did I put you through, Abby. If you need to talk about what happened to you when you were trying to help me…"

"I will, Kate." I nodded. "Just… I don't wanna think about that right now." Kate gave me an understanding look. "But… you're one of my best friends. We need to be there for each other."

"You need to realize that there are many people who love you and want to help you." Ronald said with caring tone.

"I know." Kate nodded. "You should see all those letters and postcards. I gave most of the flowers to other patients because they need them more than me. Cassie and Christine sent me a nice vase."

"Cassie?" Ronald and I asked in unisono as we looked at the balloons in the room.

"You didn't know?" She looked at us. "She returned back to Arcadia Bay yesterday." I shook my head and then I remembered the vision. The flooded basement. _No. I can't just put drag Cassie into this, no._

I swallowed hard to focus on that issue later.

Ronald then walked to the table and looked at the drawings. "These are nice pictures. I take it you drew them all?"

Kate nodded as Ronald looked at her. "One of the nurses gave me a pen and papers so I could do some drawings."

"I love your illustrations." Max smiled at Kate.

"They got kind of dark there for a while but I have an idea for a new children's book about bullying." Kate explained as she drew another picture. "I was thinking of having some photographs in there too. And if you wanna help me write something there too…"

"Are you subtly hinting that you want me to take pictures for your book?" Max asked.

"Was that subtle?" Kate chuckled. "You better take the pictures, Max."

We all chuckled as the sunlight was changing the angle in the room. I adjusted the curtains but as I looked outside the window, I had another flashback and the pain in my chest returned.

* * *

 _I was half passed out on the stretcher in a hospital room and my body was still trembling. The look at Ian bleeding on the pavement and Ronald beating the hell out of Kevin Chark was freshly burned into my mind as the doctors were checking me up for injuries and they injected me with sedatives so I would not flip out._

 _I remember Berry's voice outside my room. "What is her name?"_

 _"Abigail Powell. 16 years old. That guy that beat up Mr. Chark, the man that tried to…" Berry nodded as the other cop stopped for a moment. "… he was her brother. Ronald Powell. Little tempered about protecting his sister."_

 _"Is she alright?"_

 _"No signs of… penetration luckily, just some bruises but… the paramedics found her in severe shock and hysteria. She refused to move from the man that was stabbed. In her age, this kind of experience could be very traumatic and do very severe damage to her psychic state."_

 _"And the man that was stabbed?"_

 _"Ian Marks. Twenty-two years old. Singer as a hobby. Owns a store with music instruments. He is currently in coma. The knife cut an artery and did some severe internal damage. It is up to him if he's gonna make it…"_

 _When I heard that part, it was if I was hit in my stomach with a cannonball. The torrent of panic and trepidation went through my body instantly with the speed of light as I whimpered._

 _"Shhhh."_

 _Berry and the doctor, Doyle, entered the room. "It's alright, Miss Powell, you're in a hospital, nothing's gonna happen to you here…"_

 _"Where is Ian?" I asked. "Where is he?"_

 _"He's alive and in good hands. Don't worry."_

 _I bit my tongue. "And my brother? Where did you take my brother, officer? Please. I need to know." I begged._

 _"I_ _… I'm sorry, Miss Powell but… your brother, even though he had every right to, he attacked and ferociously beat up a man almost to death. No matter the circumstances, that cannot be just overlooked."_

 _"So you locked my brother up?" I could not control myself._

 _"Miss, I need you to calm down. Your brother is lucky he did not kill that man, otherwise he'd be in bigger trouble. I know he had every right but there are laws for such things for a reason."_

 _"Can I see Ian?"_

 _Doyle laid his hand on my arm. "I'm… sorry, Miss Powell but that is not an option at the moment."_

 _I could not take the panic inside me anymore as the rape moment resurfaced in my memory. "No! No! Nooo! No! No!"_

 _"Nurse! I need benzodiazepine for her, now!" Doyle and Berry held me on the stretcher._

* * *

Ronald and Max and Kate held my arms. "It's OK, Abby, it's OK. In. Out. In. Out." I tried to hold back my tears as I was still choking out and tried to take a breath.

"100, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95…" I counted down to hold back the flashback.

"Abby. Are… are you sure you are fine?" Kate asked me with worry.

 _No way I am now but with Max, Chloe and Ronald around, I can handle it._ "Don't worry about me, Kate." I swallowed hard.

"I… it was PTSD, was it?" Kate fondled my shoulder.

I nodded. "I… I haven't been in a hospital room since… since…"

Kate nodded in understanding. "I think right now you need your friends even more than I did. Just… I hope you'll get better. I've kept praying for you since you almost drowned on Monday…"

"As long as I have all of you around me, I'm not afraid."

"If anyone should be afraid, it should be Nathan Prescott." Ronald commented. "Kate, you should know that we are _this close_ to taking him down for good." He gestured with his two fingers. "We almost have enough evidence to show that he drugged you."

Kate nodded. "Nathan has to pay for what he did and we have to stop him from hurting anybody else."

"Then it's probably good news to you that thanks to Max and Abby that asshole got suspended. Pardon my language, Kate." My brother covered his mouth as soon as he realized he swore in front of her.

"Pardoned, Ronald." Kate comforted him. "And… you really got him suspended?" She glanced at us. "Oh, I love how fearless you are, guys! So… what is going on with him now?"

"My guess?" Ronald crossed his arms. "He's gonna show up at the Vortex Club party tonight like if nothing happened. Bastard." He growled.

"And nobody can do anything about him after what he did."

"That will change soon enough, you have my word on that, Kate." He knelt down and held Kate by her shoulders. "I promise you, Nathan Prescott is going to face justice for what he has done. There is no way in Hell I'm gonna let him walk away with what he did to you."

"We're gonna stop him, Kate." Max crossed her arms. "If we can find out what is his room number in his dorm, we can get the clues to take him down."

"You don't know his room number, Ronald?" She looked confusingly at my brother.

"I tried… but I almost got sued for harassing that piece of…" Ronald bit his lip for a fraction of second, not wanting to swear in front of her again. "… trash."

"Let me help, guys! I can find out his number and text it to you, OK?"

"Of course, Kate." Max thanked gratefully. "We need to work together."

"It's time for Nathan to watch out for us. Justice will come soon enough." I promised Kate. "And… when this mess is over, we can go for a tea session, just to make up for what we've missed for the past few days."

"We will." Kate and Max agreed.

"We love you, Katie. Just… I hope we can hang out together when it all blows over." We all hugged Kate together and then we left.

"Bye, Kate."

"See you."

Chloe leaned to the wall with her arms crossed while waiting for us. "How is she?"

"She's… still Kate Marsh." Ronald reassured Chloe.

"I'm glad we came to see her."

Ronald then looked at me. "Abby. I think you should lay back. Look at yourself, you've been a wreck lately. You need to rest. Let me and Max and Chloe handle this. You can come with us if you want to but don't involve yourself too much.

If I tell you to run, you will run and call the cops. Got it?"

I nodded and then Ronald drove us all to Blackwell.


	18. Episode 4: Dark Room - Part 4

_**Episode 4: Dark Room - Chapter 4**_

On our way to the campus we met Mr. Jefferson. "Max. Abby. Ronald. Good to see you all. And you are…" He looked at Chloe with confusion in his eyes.

"Chloe Price. I'm their… old friend." Chloe smiled at Jefferson.

"Chloe. Why isn't somebody as cool as you going to Blackwell?" Jefferson asked.

"I was way too cool for this school. It's a long story." Ronald cleared his throat at that.

"It's all in our files here." My brother smirked.

"I can imagine." Jefferson nodded. "And are you two alright after…" Jefferson paused for a moment.

"I can handle it, Mr. Jefferson, thank you. And if not, I still have my brother and my friends by my side."

"That is good to hear."

"It's weird that people act like normal after all that mess…" Ronald changed the subject.

"I know. Lame as it sounds, life has to go on." Jefferson agreed.

As we were walking across the campus, Max and me and Ronald decided to talk with the science teacher, Ms. Grant, who was sitting on a nearby bench next to Samuel and Chloe decided to hook up with Justin. I remember how cool she looked hanging out with the skater guys around here and it was kinda obvious that Justin had puppy eyes for her and I could not help but let out a silent laugh at the sight of them.

"Hello there." Ms. Grant smiled at us.

"Michelle." Ronald greeted her.

"Ronald and Abby Powell and Max Caulfield." She looked at Max. "Whenever I start talking about you, you show up.

I'm still bragging about you and the other students making Blackwell surveillance free. And honestly, I was surprised you agreed on the petition too, Ronald." She then looked at my brother.

"I think it takes more than surveillance cameras to protect the students here. And it's not like it would have been much help to Kate anyway. David is just too… paranoid and acts like if the entire campus was a warzone."

Ms. Grant nodded as she smiled. "Who needs surveillance when we have you around here? You were amazing when you helped Kate." Then she looked at me with the worrying look everyone's been throwing at me lately as I clenched my fist. "Even though in your state it may not have been the smartest thing you could have done."

"It's not like as if I had other options at the moment." I commented.

"I know. I'm just saying that something like that should not have to happen to you or Kate." Ms. Grant comforted me. "Right now she needs all the help she can get. And do you need to talk to a counselor, Abby?"

"I already have one, Ms. Grant. Don't worry about me."

Ronald and I then went to talk with Brooke as she played with her drone. "Hey Brooke."

Brooke smiled at me but her eyes were full of fear. "Hey, Abby. Are you OK? Dana told me that you had a panic attack two nights ago here."

"Honestly, I feel like a mess lately. And… I'm sorry about how I freaked on you and Juliet back in the dorm."

Brooke waved her hand. "No. You… you were right. It… it was so uncool to do that to Kate. I just thought it was funny to watch that but after how she tried to jump from the roof… we should have helped her, just like you did." In her eyes was deep regret. She then looked at me. "I just wish I could go back in time and undo all that." _You may want to rethink that._

"I'm sorry about what you and Max had to go through just because you helped her." She started to sniff.

I hugged her. "I'm not mad at you anymore, Brooke. It's OK. Just be glad that we all got out of it just fine."

Brooke nodded as she wiped her eyes. "Thanks. You're really kind, Abby. I… I should have listened to you."

"Don't worry about it, Brooke. Just… try not to let something like that happen again." Ronald held her shoulder as she nodded. "And by the way, have you seen Nathan Prescott?"

"What are you gonna do to him, Ron?" Brooke frowned.

"Nothing… I just wanna know if he's around campus."

"I haven't seen him." Brooke shook her head as Max and Chloe waved their hands at us on the other side of the yard.

"We gotta go. See you later."

"Bye."

We were at the entrance to the Prescott Dormitory as Ronald stopped. "I'll wait here, guys. The campus security is not allowed to just go into the dorms unless it is necessary. Just… be careful. I'll cover the surroundings. And Abby?" He opened his jacket and pointed at his holstered taser. I showed him my taser in my pocket in my jacket too.

We all nodded as we entered the dorm.

* * *

"It's so lame they don't have co-ed dorms here." Chloe said.

"Yeah. Because I wanna have Nathan Prescott living right next to me." Max snorted.

"Good point." Chloe replied.

"Keep an eye out, Chloe, please, in case Nathan or anybody else shows up." I asked her. We tried to look at the names at the dormitory's plan but it was scribbled. _Teenage boys are so childish and idiotic._

Max and I looked at the rooms and when we found the room numbered 111 where on its slate was written "THE PRESCOTTS RULE THIS TOWN".

"Who do you think would write that, Max?" I asked sarcastically.

"You ready?" Max held the doorknob.

"Let's go." But the door was locked. _Figures._ I grabbed the fire extinguisher next to the door and few hits to the doorknob and… voilá.

We entered the room. It was dark… and had a creepy aura. Covered windows, a projector showing some creepy photos.

"We need his phone, Abby."

"The sooner we find it, the sooner we can get out. I don't know about you, Max but this place freaks me out." I had a short flashback to the flooded basement but I bit my tongue. I could not help but feel the chill in my spine for a fraction of second.

"Maybe you should wait outs…"

"No. I can do this, Max." Suddenly our phones buzzed.

* * *

 _JOYCE: Max, Abby, now that David is not here, I need Chloe to step up and stop acting out so much. But that won't happen if you and her are getting mixed up in illegal crap like breaking into Blackwell at night. I know it happened to don't bother to defend or explain and I know that Ronald is trying to cover for all of you. I hoped you would get her back on the right track but it looks like she's getting stuck again. You could be such a good influence on her. Unless you all want to play bad. But she can't keep blaming David now._

 _MAX: I'm sorry, Joyce. Even I get into shenanigans sometimes. But I am trying to be a good influence on Chloe. She did go and see Kate on her own, and she's been twice more with me now._

 _ABBY: We tried to talk Chloe out of it but you know how she can get. All we did was trying to make sure the damage she'd do would be as little as possible._

 _JOYCE: I know. I forget you're still teenage adults trying to grow up. But I'd hoped Ronald would do a better job at keeping you out of trouble._

* * *

"I knew this would not end well." I muttered.

"I know. And I'm sorry." Max nodded.

As we looked around, I found a diploma "THE BEST SON IN THE WORLD" from 6th June, 2006, hanging on the wall. _Boo-hoo. Kid's got daddy issues. That doesn't justify what he's done._

I noticed Max purring angrily as she held a camera in her hand. "That son of a bitch. Only the best for the Prescotts."

"Top gear camera?" I asked. Max nodded.

As we kept going through his room, Max and I found some pills for calming down. _No wonder he gets his rage on so often. He needs some serious help._

Then I found hidden a manual to a gun as I gasped. "Oh my God!" I noticed Max gasped at the same moment. We looked at each other. I showed Max the manual.

"Is that…"

"…the gun that Nathan pulled on Chloe. What did you find?"

In Max's eyes were disgust and horror. She showed me a picture of… _Chloe? What the hell have you done, you fucking bastard?_ Chloe was lying on the floor, totally zonked out. _You son of a bitch. You're gonna pay for what you did._ I growled in anger.

Then she showed me a note. I recognized Chloe's handwriting.

* * *

 _Hey ASSHOLE. We need to talk. Or I'm going to tell everybody what you did. And you're going to pay motherfucker._

* * *

 _Ronald would kill that son of a bitch if he knew all this._

We kept looking until Max noticed marks on the floor near the sofa.

"Can you help me move it, Abby?" We moved the sofa and we found a cellphone in a plastic bag taped to the back of the sofa.

"Jackpot." Max took the phone.

"We got what we need. Now let's get outta here." I suggested. We left Nathan's room and went to Chloe in the corridor who was clearly terrified.

"You were gone for a long time. So what did you find?"

"The place creeped me out but…" I showed Chloe the phone and she got cheered up as she went through its contents.

"Boom, Nathan. We got you by the balls, fucker."

Unfortunately, the moment did not last as Nathan entered the dorm.

"What are you doing in my dorm?" _Oh, fuck me both ways!_ He approached us angrily as we started to back off.

"You two are a couple of nosy bitches!"

"Back off, Nathan!" I yelled.

"Make me, ho!"

I pulled out my taser gun and pulled the trigger but nothing happened. _It's jammed. Are you kidding me?_

"You know that toy won't help you, you fucking whore!" He grabbed me by my throat and then Warren showed up and shoved Nathan away from me.

"Abby. I got this." Warren stepped up in front of me.

"Get the fuck out of my face, Graham!" Nathan tried to push Warren away but Warren suddenly grabbed Nathan and headbutted him, knocking him down on the ground and Max gasped.

 _Whoa. Payback's a bitch, ain't it?_

Nathan screamed as he pulled out a gun. "You are so fucking dead!"

Warren kicked the gun from Nathan's hand. "Get off me, brah!"

Warren kept kicking at Nathan lying on the ground but then I suddenly got the flashback when I was the alley when Ronald beat up Kevin Chark. There was no way in hell I was gonna let Warren stoop down to this level so I interfered and pulled Warren away. "Warren, stop! That's enough!"

Nathan grunted in pain as he got up. "Ow… my head." Nathan grabbed his gun as he looked at all of us, his eyes full of contempt and anger. "Why are you looking at me like that, huh?" He pointed at us with his gun as he started to walk away. "You… and you… you're… you're all dead! Plus my dad is on his way! You're all fucked!" Nathan bellowed angrily.

"You're the one who's fucked this time, shitface!" I heard Ronald's voice from the corner.

Nathan suddenly yelled and then I heard hits and grunting and then I saw Nathan lying on the ground as Ronald knelt down and pulled out a taser and shocked him in his chest, effectively subduing him.

"Let's see how your Daddy's gonna help you out of this. Pulling out a gun on students and a campus security officer within school's premises in front of witnesses. My, my. You're finished, Prescott." My brother then looked at us.

"Get out of here and call the cops. No way in hell he's gonna walk away from this one." He ordered us. "Go!"

I went out with Max and Chloe and Warren.

"Damn. That was intense." Chloe commented.

"Warren. Thank you so much." I hugged him and kissed him on his cheek.

"For what?" Warren asked as he shook me off.

"For headbutting Nathan Prescott. That was awesome." Chloe praised him.

"I don't know. I almost went crazy like there… like Nathan."

"You're nothing like him." Max calmed Warren down.

"Good to know. So where are you going? I better stick with you guys… just in case you need me to get my Hulk on again. Or should we call the cops on Nathan?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "No matter the circumstances, like Ronald said, he pulled out a gun at a security officer on the school's premises in front of four witnesses. His father cannot protect him now."

Suddenly I heard a "BANG!" go off and echoing in the air. We all went towards the source of the sound.

We ran to the main building where there was Mr. Jefferson with my brother, who was holding his arm.

"Son of a bitch…" Ronald swore. I noticed a little blood on his hand.

"My God, Ron."

"I'm fine. It just grazed me." He calmed me down.

"What happened?"

"I was gonna bring Nathan to Mr. Jefferson but he fought back. Little bastard. He bolted as soon as he got his hands on his gun." Ronald explained.

"We should call the cops." I pulled out my phone but Mr. Jefferson stopped my hand.

"Don't worry about Mr. Prescott, I'll take it from here, Abby. You did your part, I will do mine now. I'm going to make sure he will not hurt anybody else ever again, don't worry."

We all sighed with relief as we left the school. Ronald then looked at me as he whispered. "Abby. Let's go home first. I wanna make sure you're gonna be safe. You stay there and lock the door. Don't go anywhere and you're gonna call the police, say that you want protective detail. And do not let anybody in unless you call me first."

I nodded as Ronald drove me back to our house.

But when I was entering the house, I noticed somebody picked the entry door lock and I called police as Ronald opened the door carefully, pulling out his gun. The real one.

" _911, Arcadia Bay Emergency service. How can we help you?_ "

"This is Abby Powell. I think somebody broke into my hou… HMPF! UHMPFFF!" Suddenly somebody grabbed me from behind and covered my mouth with a piece of cloth as Ronald got knocked out from behind with a baton. The cloth tasted cold and sweet and… suddenly I felt weak and tired and I could not help to fall asleep slowly as everything cut to black.


	19. Episode 4: Dark Room - Part 5

_**Episode 4: Dark Room - Chapter 5**_

As Ronald woke up, he noticed something rough was in his hand as he got up, touching the bump on his head. "Son of a bitch." He grunted. Then he remembered quickly what happened as he looked at the blood on his fingers. _Somebody knocked me out from behind._

Then he realized something else. "Abby. Abby!" Ronald called out his sister as he checked the house from top to bottom, looking into every room. "Damn it!" He then looked the roughed paper in his hand.

* * *

" _If you want to see your sister ever again, bring Ian Marks and the money he owes me to me. Number's on the back side of the paper. If you bring in the cops or anyone else, I'll bring her back to you in pieces. You have until midnight. Ian and the money for your sister unharmed._

 _J.B._ "

* * *

Ronald banged the wall in anger as he realized he failed to protect her. "Son of a bitch!"

Then Ian entered the house as he saw the mess inside. "What happened?" Ronald grabbed him as he realized that this mess was because of a man he once treated as his brother.

"You lying, wretched coward! You didn't come back home to us! You came here to hide!" Ronald screamed as he pinned Ian to the wall.

"What are you tal…"

"Jack Brown!" Ronald spat at Ian's face as his pupils widened in realization. "He has her! Because he's after you and your blood money!"

The name put Ian in a state of shock and paralyzed as he stood frozen, still pinning his back to the wall. "How… how…"

"I know everything, Ian! If she dies, her blood's gonna be on your hands!" Ronald yelled in anger, in his eyes hate and spite. He could not believe how his friend could have fallen this deep into trouble. "How could you drag us into this mess?"

"I didn't know they'd still be coming after me, I swear." After Ian recovered from the momentary shock, he begged, there was fear in his eyes and his voice trembled. "What are we gonna do?"

"Frank." Ronald suggested as Ian looked at him in surprise. "Like I said, I know everything, Ian. I know about how he's been covering you. Jack Brown sent him threat that he'd come after him. He might know where Jack is. And… an old friend of mine used to work for him too."

Ian nodded as Ronald dialed Shane's number.

"C'mon… c'mon…" Ronald muttered as the phone beeped twice until the call was answered.

" _Hello?_ " Shane asked innocently.

"Shane." Ronald growled in anger.

Shane said in gentle tone. " _Ron, hi. How can I…_ "

"Cut the crap, you miserable lying snake! I know about Jack Brown and Ian! They have my sister!" Ronald lashed out, not being able to believe that one of his friends from juvie would stab him in the back like that. "I swear to God, if you as much as leave a scratch on her, I'm gonna kill every last one of you fuckers!"

" _What? He…_ " Shane sounded shocked and there was a pause for a moment. In his tone was sudden remorse. " _Ron, I swear, I didn't know he was gonna…_ "

"Save it, you motherfucker." If Ronald was angry back then when Abby was almost raped, there was no word with which could describe the emotional state in which he was at the moment. His blood was boiling with each passing second. "Tell me where did he take her or I'm gonna hunt you all down and I'm gonna kill..."

" _Ronald, please, calm down. You have to believe me. He only wanted Ian. I didn't know he was gonna go that far. I told him to leave you and Abby out of this..._ "

"As of right now, I don't care." Ronald's rage clouded his reason at the moment and the anger inside him from back when his sister was almost raped and his friend was almost killed was nothing in comparison to the rage he was bursting out with at the moment. "I just want my sister back in one piece, so if you don't wanna piss me off even more, tell me where did they take her, right now!"

Shane pleaded Ronald. " _I swear to God I had nothing to do with them taking her. I don't know where she is…_ "

"If you wanna make things right, tell me everything what you know right now. And I warn you, you don't wanna fuck with me." Ronald was growing even more impatient with each passing second in which he felt more and more powerless.

" _Look. I don't know where Jack is now but I know he sent Frank some letters…_ "

"I know about them…"

"… _and he wanted some supplies from Frank for… you don't wanna know. Frank was supposed to drop the goods and pick up his cash at drop points around time. But Jack found out that Frank was supplying Ian some drugs for dulling the pain and wanted to squeeze Frank. That's all I know, I swear._ "

Ronald believed Shane. Shane was his best friend while he was in juvie, they looked after each other. The least he owed him was to give him a chance. Ronald took a deep breath to calm down and tried to sound as patient as he could in his current state.

"Shane. I'm gonna warn you just this one time.

If I were you, I'd get your lowlife ass out Arcadia Bay, right now. You don't wanna be anywhere near your boss when I get my hands on him." Ronald was done holding back his rage rising because of his sister being in danger again. And the respect he once had for the man who watched his back in the juvie was vanishing during the conversation.

"'Cause when I find him, I'm gonna crush every single bone in his body and feed him with his teeth and I'm gonna kill every last punk that gets in my way. This is your only chance, you better bail right now or you are a fucking de…"

" _I hear you, Ronald._ " Shane sighed and his voice sounded sincere and remorseful. " _Look. I'm sorry. I never meant for things to go as far as they have and drag you or Abby into this._

 _I don't expect you to believe me but I'm gonna try to make things right as best as I can. Please, at least believe that._ " After that Shane hung up.

"Motherfucking bastards! Graaah! Fuck this shit! Damn it!" Ronald cursed as he kicked the nearby drawer and then he sighed and growled in frustration.

"Where is she?" Ian asked Ronald.

"Frank might know." Ronald got an idea as he waited by his car with Ian, hearing the sirens in the distance.

"Why are we waiting? Every second we waste is…"

"Because Abby called the cops before they knocked me out and took her. We need to tell…"

"They're gonna kill her…"

"One way or another. And I'm gonna do anything I can to save her than sit on my ass and waste time."

A minute later a police car with its sirens blowing then parked in front of the house as Berry went out and asked Ronald.

"What happened?" Berry asked as he stepped out of the car.

"Andy. Someone took Abby." Ronald explained as he tried to compose himself.

"What do you mean?" Berry asked in confusion.

"Somebody broke into our house, knocked me out and took her."

"Does it have anything to do with Tobias Brown?" Berry gave Ian a glare once he noticed him and asked in an interrogative tone.

Ian hesitated. In the end he decided to hold back the truth. "I don't know for certain. But they want me and the money in exchange for her. Said if we drag in the cops, they'll kill her."

"Don't do anything." Berry ordered Ian and Ronald as he raised his hand and was about to call on radio. "Let us…"

"Didn't you listen? No cops involved!" Ronald exclaimed impatiently

Berry hesitated. "I know some guys. They can be discreet."

Ronald sighed because every second mattered at the moment. "Look. I might have some clues but I can't tell you anything yet. If they spot the cops, she's dead.

Let me check into my leads. Once I have something solid, I call you. OK?"

Berry nodded as he comforted Ronald and laid his hand on his arm. "We'll get your sister back, I promise. Tell me once you find something out."

Ronald and Ian went into Ronald's car and drove off.

* * *

Ronald's phone buzzed on the dash as he was driving. "Could you please look what it is?" He asked Ian.

Ian looked at Ronald's phone. "One new message. From Chloe."

"Read it out loud, please."

* * *

 _CHLOE: Got the logbook, leaving the beach, checking for clues. Wanna help us?_

* * *

Ronald had to sigh. He couldn't decide what was more important at the moment. And there was no way in Hell he would let his old best friends drag into this mess. "Text her back." He dictated Ian.

* * *

 _RONALD: Stay put. Be careful. Don't do anything rash until I get to you. Got some work to do but don't worry. We're in this together._

 _CHLOE: No time for that. We gotta find Rachel, with or without you. With Max around we can handle it. Either you can or can't help us._

* * *

 _Damn it, Chloe!_ Ronald banged angrily at the car horn. This was exactly the characteristic trait of Chloe that drove him crazy. "Stubborn little bi…" He bit his lip, realizing who was he talking about. "…brat!"

"" _Chloe_ " as in Chloe Price?" Ian asked in confusion, remembering the stories Ronald and Abby told him about how they played together when they were kids and meeting her once, a few years back.

"Yeah." Ronald nodded. He was very frustrated, having to look after his little sister and failing miserably, letting Nathan escape after he caught him attacking his friends with a gun and Chloe getting herself into trouble again. "Short version - she's gotten into some deep shit again. Abs and I've been trying to help her out of it."

"As deep shit as we are in?"

"Maybe worse. I'm not sure." Ronald said after a few seconds of hesitation, not wanting to waste time talking about the supernatural circumstances surrounding his current situation.

"Chloe hasn't changed much since you've met her the last time, has she?"

Ronald could just shake his head in frustration. Then they got on the beach where was Frank's RV.

"We can't drag them into this. It's too dangerous."

"And whatever shit your friends have gotten themselves into is not? I saw on TV what happened at Blackwell this morning." Ian smirked.

"Good point."

Soon enough they arrived at the beach. Ronald knocked the door as Frank then opened them. In his eyes was… closure?

"Hey Ronald." Frank said honestly. "If you're looking for your friends, they've already got my logb…" Then he noticed Ian as he glared at him and trembled in fear. "What the fuck do you want?" His eyes could obviously tell that he wanted nothing to do with Ian.

"Jack Brown. He has _her_ , Frank. He's got my sister. Where are they?" Ronald asked with as patient tone as he could make. "I know that they were after you."

"I… I don't know." Frank said in hesitation and fear.

"I don't have time, Frank. Please." Ronald begged, trying hard not to grab Frank by his jacket and beat the answers out of him.

"You know who you're messing with, right?" Frank said, asking if Ronald was sure about what was he getting himself into.

"He should know who _he is_ messing with." Ronald snarled. Frank saw with his own eyes how much dangerous Ronald could be if somebody hurt his sister and he could see the anger in Ronald's pupils.

"OK. OK. Calm down." Frank raised his hands in surrender. "I don't know where he is but I can show you where did I drop off my stuff for them." Frank slowly backed off and put out slips of paper from his drawer.

"I hope this will help you. I'm sorry she's gotten dragged into another mess, I really am. I guess you wanna find her as much as your friends wanna find Rachel."

Ronald finally understood Frank as he looked into his eyes. There was something… bright inside of them. _Sincerity. And… wanting… for… hope... some redemption, maybe?_ "I honestly don't know what exactly did she see in you that she had to keep Chloe out of the loop but… looking at you for the past few days, I can see that you can be a good man. And Rachel loved people who had goodness in her."

"Thanks, Ronald. And good luck to you… and to Chloe." They shook each other's hands with respect.

* * *

When Abby woke up, she noticed her hands were restrained behind her back to a nearby pillar as she felt something rough pressing on her wrists.

She felt weak and tired. "Where am I?" She looked around in confusion. The place looked abandoned and… ruined… and then she realized she was in the place from her dream as the panic rose inside of her as her body started to tremble because she felt the cold air around her.

"Help! Help me! Somebo-" She was cut off with a burning sting on her face.

"Shut your fucking mouth!" A man snarled at her.

The slap on her cheek hurt her so bad she could not stop the tears from bursting out both from pain and fear and the panic was taking over her body. "Where… where am I?" Her voice trembled with horror. "Why… why are you doing this? What have I ever done to you?" She exclaimed and could not stop sobbing.

"You nothing. But your boyfriend… he owes me a debt. Both in blood and in cash. And he's gonna pay, one way or another."

This shocked Abby as chill went through her spine again. She could not keep her emotions in check at the moment as her nightmare was becoming true. "Please, don't hurt me. I… I don't wanna die… I don't wanna…"

"There is only one person I want dead and it does not have to be you if you keep your mouth shut. Stop whining or my boys are gonna have some fun with you."

This shut Abby up as she remembered the rape again, shivering with fear, biting her tongue. Behind the man who slapped her, she noticed he had a scar on his face, a cut from a blade, that there were at least three more thugs behind him, in eyes of some of them was insatiable lust.

"Lay off, Jack. She's scared enough as it and you know that she can't take much stre…" One of the henchmen stepped up to his boss from the shadow.

"I don't give a fuck! Her fucking buddy stole my cash and killed our guys and we're gonna just let him walk away with…"

"That does not justify what you are doi…" He was shut up with a punch to his face which knocked him down. The man, Jack, then kicked kept kicking the guy who stepped up to him until he started coughing out blood, the kicking clearly breaking his ribs.

"Don't. Tell. Me. About. Justifying." He stressed out each word with every single kick as Abby closed her eyes, not being able to watch the savagery of the attack.

Abby broke down in sobbing, not being able to wipe her tears with her hands tied, her repressed traumatic memories resurfacing again and her breathing becoming more and more erratic as she felt painful pressure on her chest again.

Not even the counting method could not calm her down this time. The rape incident was nothing in comparison to what was she going through at the moment.

"Somebody put a gag on her. I don't need to hear her whining." He pulled out a knife and put it dangerously close to Abby's face as she choked out.

"And if you don't wanna end up as my whore, you better shut your gob."

She could only pray to God or whatever universal power cursed her with these premonitions that her most recent vision would not come true.

The thug glared in her eyes, Abby shivered in terror as her vision was blurred by tears and she did her best not to scream in fear again.

"This will calm you down, you bitch." He grabbed her by her chin and stung a syringe in her neck as she passed out slowly and turned docile in a few moments. "Now stay quiet."

* * *

Ronald and Ian spent almost two hours or so with Berry and a few police officers trying to pinpoint the location where Jack Brown might be hiding with the help of the clues provided by Frank and a map of Arcadia Bay. Finally they found that most of the drop points were in vicinity of an abandoned lumber mill near the beach.

The police cars surrounded the place and luckily the night was drawing near, so they had an advantage. Berry then ordered his team consisted of a few members of Emergency Response Unit how they would approach.

"Alright. Here's how it's gonna go." Berry pinned a small listening device onto Ronald's and Ian's jackets. "You two are gonna get in and try to negotiate with Jack. Try to stall him for as long as possible until the rest of us surround the place. When it all goes down and you get the chance, take Abby and run away as far as possible. Understood?"

Everyone nodded. The officers were stationed around the mill, out of the sight, waiting to bust in as Ronald and Ian came towards the entrance where there was waiting a guarding thug.

"Do you have the money?" The thug asked with spite in his tone as he saw Ian.

Ian pulled out an envelope. "Myself and the cash for the girl. Fair trade."

The thug nodded as he did a patdown on Ian and Ronald. He was thorough but luckily the listening devices were too small for him to notice and Ronald was smart enough to leave his weapons in his car.

"Get in. You stay here." He poked Ronald's chest. But he grabbed the thug's hand and twisted it.

"Like hell I am. I wanna see that my sister is safe, so don't test me, asshole." Ronald said impatiently as the bones started to crack.

"OK. OK. Damn it, you're crazy!" Ronald let off the thug's hand. He them let them in as he yelled out.

"Boss! He's here! And the brother!"

"Alone?"

The thug went down the stairs from the upper floor.

"Jack Brown." Ian snarled.

"Ian Marks." Jack smirked as he snapped his fingers. Thugs then grabbed both Ronald and Ian by their arms as Jack approached Ian and searched his pockets until he found an envelope full of cash.

"You should not have stolen from us, you idiot." Jack smacked Ian in forehead with the envelope, like if he was scolding a child.

"I told you I didn't wanna have anything to you ever again. You were the ones who just weren't satisfied. " _One job_ ", your uncle said. Then another. And another. I paid my debt to you and it still it was not enough for you, you hungry bastards." He spat at Jack's face as he finished his sentence, in which his tone was filled with hate and disgust.

Jack calmly wiped the spit from his face and then he punched Ian in his stomach.

"You still owed us with interests, you pathetic loser."

 _He may have become pathetic, but the one thing he is not, he's not a **pathetic loser**._

"You've got what you wanted, now let her go! She and I have nothing to do with this!" Ronald yelled as he heard a weak scream.

"Rnnn! Hwwwlp!"

"Shut up, bitch!" A slap went out and it filled Ronald with twice the anger he had in him a few moments ago.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Whatever restraint Ronald had inside of him was suddenly gone. "I'm gonna fucking kill you!"

"Now, now, now." Jack pulled out a gun dangerously close to Ronald's face. "There's no need for such crude manner. I have no quarrel with you. She is unharmed, mostly.

And I am a man of my word."

He turned around and called out. "Bring the girl!"

From the ceiling could be heard footsteps and whimpering as Abby yelled out. "Get the hell away from me, you bastard!"

"Now calm down! Don't make this harder for you than it has to be!"

"No! No! Get the fuck off me! Let me go, you asshole!" Abby screamed hysterically. In a fraction of second a chill went through Ronald's spine. _This must be even more traumatic for her than what happened to her three years ago. My God. How is she going to recover from this?_ His thoughts raced. He was afraid that after such experience she might never be fine ever again.

A muscular man went down with Abby who was shaking and kicking, trying to free herself.

"Abby!" Ronald exclaimed.

Abby's eyes were red and she looked even more wrecked than after the rape incident as she could not stop sobbing.

"Please. Help me." She begged, in her eyes imploring look at her brother as she burst out in tears.

"It's gonna be OK, sis, it's gonna be OK." Ronald did his best trying to calm Abby down. "I'm gonna take you home, OK? Don't be afraid."

"We can all walk away from this safe and sound. But only… after I punish you, Ian. You know the saying. " _Actions have consequences._ " And you need to face them. Wanna see a good show?" Jack pulled out a knife as he approached Abby, who stood frozen at the sight of the shining blade.

He slowly started to cut her shirt, button by button.

"Let's have some fun, whore."

"No! No! No!" Abby tried to struggle in panic but the thug holding her was too strong.

"You son of a bitch! You're a fucking dead man! You hear me?! I'm gonna kill you, you bastard!" Ronald hit a thug holding him with his elbow and grabbed a gun from his belt. He then shot the thug into his leg who fell down and screamed in pain, and then Ronald shot at Jack, hitting him in the arm in which he held the knife and the thug who held Abby in his shoulder. Luckily he was taller than Abby so there was no way Ronald'd accidentally hit her.

"Abby, run! Get out of here! Go! Go!" Ronald yelled at his sister, wanting to get her safe as she quickly nodded and sprinted towards the side exit and the other thugs pulled out their guns and started shooting as Ronald and Ian took cover while a small group of ERU members burst into the place, taking down most of the thugs and the rest stood down but Jack used the chaos to run on the roof as Ronald and Ian followed him.

"Police! Freeze! You're all under arrest!"

"Down on the ground! On the ground, motherfucker!"

"Weapons down! Drop it! Weapons down and hands behind your head!"

"Not so fast, you pissant!" Ronald and Ian ran towards the staircase to the attic where Jack went.

"Nowhere to run now, asshole!" Ronald aimed his gun as Jack was cornered. The only way out was to jump off the window but that would most likely lead to death or being arrested by the police waiting for him down there.

Jack raised his hands in surrender. "On your knees! Get on your knees now or I'm gonna kill you, fucker!" Ronald yelled as he aimed his gun at Jack.

Jack's expression said nothing as he knelt and put his hands behind his back. Ronald pulled out another set of handcuffs and as he was about to restrain Jack while nearing him, suddenly Jack threw straws in Ronald's eyes.

"Aaah! Shit!" Ronald screamed as he was blinded and covered his eyes. Jack used the opening and shoved Ronald and Ronald stumbled and fell off the window.

"No!" Ian yelled. "You're done hurting my friends, you bastard!" He lunged at Jack and pushed him towards the wall, Jack hammered Ian in the back and kicked him in the stomach with his knee, then he grabbed Ian by his shoulders and headbutted him, breaking Ian's nose. Then he threw Ian across the attic and as he laid down on the ground, Jack started to kick him relentlessly.

"After I'm done with you, I'm gonna find Frank and I'm gonna cut him into pieces and turn him into fish food. And then, your pretty gal's gonna become my personal whore. Who knows, maybe she'll finally find appreciation in being fucked since Frank's buddy gave her a first experience of how enjoying teenage prostitution is."

"Not this time, fuckface!" Ian grabbed a nearby screwdriver and stabbed Jack in his ankle and Jack let out an almost inhuman shriek of pain as he knelt down. "Son of a…"

Ian grabbed Jack by his face and started to gouge his left eye out with his thumb as Jack laid down but Jack scratched Ian across his face and kicked him off.

Jack covered his injured eye and pulled out a knife. "You asshole! I'm gonna gut you like a fish!"

He tried to stab Ian but Ian dodged his attack, having some experience with knife attacks and learning to defend himself from such weapons and Ian used the opening to grab Jack's hand in which he held the knife and knocked it off. He punched Jack in his face and kicked him away.

Ian intended to end this once and for all and he lunged at Jack, both of them falling off the window and landing on a truck deck full of hay straws which softened the fall.

Before either one of them could recover from the fall, Ronald suddenly showed up and shocked Jack in the chest with his taser, taking him down and then he helped Ian get up.

"You OK?" Ronald asked.

Ian sighed with relief as he hugged his friend. "Oh my God. I thought you were…"

"If the truck was few more feet away from the barn, maybe I would have. Lucky me."

Then from the truck got out the last person Ronald would expect. "Thought you might need some help, guys."

"Shane, you son of a gun." Ronald shook his hands with his old friend and patted him by his back. "Why did you come here?"

"Look. I know that I got on the wrong side but no way in hell I was gonna let them hurt you or Abby.

But you…" Shane pointed at Ian and then he punched him in his face.

"That was for making me lie to my boss and cover your ass, you son of a bitch."

"You helped him run?"

"I know you two were friends. Thought I owe you as much to let you see Abby again." Shane nodded.

Ronald then sighed and immediately regretted his previous threat to Shane. "I'm sorry for throwing all that shit at you, man."

Shane waved his hand coolly. "Don't worry. I probably had most of it coming."

Berry then approached Ronald and Ian while the other cops arrested Jack.

"Abby is OK. The paramedics are checking on her."

Ronald and Ian ran to Abby who was sitting at the back of the ambulance, holding a cup of coffee, with blanket on her shoulders and a paramedic soothing her.

"Thank God you're OK, Abby." Ronald sighed with relief as he hugged her.

"I… I thought I was gonna die there, Ron. I had nightmares about this and… and…" Abby choked out.

"It's OK, sis. It's over. It's over." Ronald comforted her.

"I'm sorry." Ian apologized to her. "I… I never wanted to put either one of you into this situation. I… never should have come back here."

"Ian, don't say that. I know you didn't mean to drag us into this." Abby caressed Ian's knee.

"Let's go to the hospital, sis." Ronald picked Abby up as her pain in her chest suddenly returned and she had another vision.

* * *

 _Max was with Chloe at the junkyard at the night, carrying flashlights, looking at a freshly dug up corpse. The clothes and some traits of the decaying body looked familiar to Abby but suddenly somebody injected Max in the neck with a syringe from behind._

 _Chloe turned around in surprise and the last thing Abby saw was Chloe getting shot in her head._

* * *

As the vision ended, it was like if Abby was in a whole new world of agony and pain now. " _No! No! Chloe! Chloe! Chloeeee!_ " Abby broke down in tears as she screamed into the sky hysterically with all the air she had in her lungs.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:** And with this part I'm wrapping up **Episode 4: Dark Room**. I hope you guys enjoyed reading this. See you guys soon in the next **and** the last episode of my story, **Polarized**. I've also gotten an idea about how might the versions of ends Abby's and Ronald's story in **SACRIFICE CHLOE** storyline and **SACRIFICE ARCADIA BAY** storyline look like._

 _After you finish reading this part, I'd appreciate immediate feedback in the reviews._

 _See you guys soon in **E5: Polarized**_

 _With regards,_

 ** _Bl4ckHunter_**


	20. Episode 5: Polarized - Part 1

_**Episode 5: Polarized - Chapter 1**_

The paramedics had to sedate Abby to calm her down from what they assumed was a panic attack or a severe PTSD but Ronald knew better than that after what he has seen recently. Abby was shaking and curled to a ball on the stretcher in the ambulance for hours, her breathing becoming erratic. The doctors were wondering why even under sedation she could be still shaken up.

" _Chloe, no…. No… you can't… Chloe… she cannot be…_ " Abby kept mumbling to herself while sobbing quietly.

Ian approached Ronald, both confused and scared as hell.

"What the hell happened to her?"

Ronald wondered whether he should tell Ian the truth or not and drag Max and Chloe into this. He knew one thing for certain, if Abby was screaming out Chloe's name while breaking down, it definitely was not a good sign.

 _Max and Chloe are in danger. I need to help them, fast. But how can I explain this to Ian?_

"OK, Ian. This… this is gonna sound crazy. Even I did not believe it at first and right now I don't have time to explain this to you in details."

Ian raised his brows in confusion. "Why not? Please, just tell me what's going on."

"Well, Abby's been… having premonitions. About this. About Jack, kidnapping, Kate's suicide… in addition to the flashbacks to the alley incident. She knew a bit about what was happening, that's why she's been so messed up lately. She knew someone would kidnap her."

Ian looked like if he was not sure what to believe. "O…kay."

"Look. I don't have time to convince you because if what's happening now is what I think it is, I need to find Max and Chloe before it's too late. They may be in danger." Ronald looked to the sky, noticing the two moons. He didn't even realize it was almost late and there were more and more signs of abnormality around the town and he remembered that in less than 24 hours the tornado is going to destroy Arcadia Bay. Right now he prayed to God that the vision does not come true.

"Stay with Abby and get her somewhere safe. No matter what, don't leave her alone and don't let her get out of your sight until I'm back, OK?"

Ian nodded, being surprised by Ronald's desperation. The only time he ever seen him this desperate was when Chloe once stole Ronald's car and she did not even notice Abby was asleep in the back, a couple of years back.

Even though Ian wanted some answers, he could tell Ronald had in mind something far more important to him. _Whatever it was, obviously for_ _Ronald and Abby the nightmare is not over yet_ , he thought.

* * *

As Ronald drove the car, he noticed he had a few messages in his voicemail. From Max. He let the phone on the dash and played them all.

" _Ron. We… we found something in Prescott's barn. Under it is some kind of a shelter. Whatever Nathan's been doing, he's most likely doing it there. Just in case you wanna find us._ "

 _Oh my God. What have you gotten yourselves into?_ Ronald thought to himself as the message ended. He then played the next message. And Max's tone was way more horrified in this one.

" _Ron, Nathan, he… he… he's been kidnapping girl students and… and… taking these… these sick photos of them as he drugged then… he… he did that to Kate and he… wanted to go after Cassie… and Abby and… and… R…Rachel… he… took a creepy photo of her at the junkyard. We're on our way there. I… I hope it's not what I think it is._ "

" _She's gotta be fine, gotta be._ " Ronald heard Chloe's voice in the background, in which were signs of fear and despair and denial.

 _I should have taken you out long ago, you fucker._ Ronald thought as he found out what exactly Nathan's intentions with Cassie and Abby were and what he did to Kate.

 _If you hurt Max or Chloe, I'm gonna kill you, Nathan. No way I'm just gonna let you rot in the cell._

It took a while for Ronald to arrive at the junkyard, since his car almost ran out of gas and had to refill in the gas station. When he finally did, he pulled out a flashlight as he scoured around. "Max! Chloe!" He tried calling Max on the phone but all he got was. " _The number you are calling is not available at the moment._ "

 _Damn it!_ "Max! Chl..!" Ronald stopped as the light fell on the feet on the ground… ripped jeans, black jacket and a skull shirt…

Ronald took a closer look and when he turned the light toward the rest of the body… it was like if his whole world had just crumbled down as he breathed more and more rapidly, realizing why was Abby panicking even though it was over for her. He dropped the flashlight, the cone of light now fully covering the body. It was as if he had just gotten hit in his stomach with a cannonball, a large part of his world crumbling down.

"Noooo!"

Ronald ran to Chloe, who had a hole in her forehead and he embraced her lifeless body in his arms, breaking down in tears. "Why? Why? Why?" Ronald screamed out. "I'm so sorry, Chloe! Why didn't you listen to me, you… why couldn't you have…"

Ronald had never felt so miserably before, not even when he couldn't protect Abby from Kevin Chark.

"I should have kept a better eye on you, Chloe. I'm so sorry, I'm so…" Ronald sobbed uncontrollably.

 _If I'd been more careful when those sons of bitches broke into our house, you'd still be alive._

After what felt almost like an eternity of grieving, Ronald realized that next to him was a dug up grave, as he got at least some hold of himself. He took a closer look to the decaying corpse, some of the traits were familiar to him as it hit him…

 _Rachel._ _You killed her, Nathan. Pray that I don't get my hands on you, you bastard._

Then he realized Max wasn't anywhere as he grabbed the flashlight and looked around. _If Max is dead too, I'm gonna make you suffer._

Ronald ran around the junkyard frantically, calling out. "Max! Max! Max!"

He had no answers and found no one as he searched the place.

 _No way Max would leave Chloe behind like that. And if she's dead, where's the body?_

Ronald had no idea what to do. He'd hoped that his moments of despair and feeling of helplessness were over when he was trying to save Abby. He quickly went to his car and drove to campus. He prayed that wherever Max was, that her rewind power would protect her and buy her enough time. Ronald let out a quite chuckle as he realized the unintended pun.

 _Hold on, Max. I'm not gonna lose a sister this time._ Ronald kept telling himself as he was driving, trying to save one of his closest friend he'd known and been looking after together with his baby sister since they were cute little rascals.

* * *

"It's gonna be OK, Abby." Berry comforted Abby at the hospital as he handed her another cup of coffee while she was sitting at the reception while Ian was being treated by a doctor. Jack Brown was accompanied into an ICU with hands cuffed behind his back, having been severely beaten up by Ronald and Ian. Meanwhile other officers were ready to interrogate Ian.

She noticed the two moons in the sky as she looked out of the window and the dark clouds drawing near.

"Abby?" She turned her source to a familiar voice and looked at her best friend. Or at least she thought so at first, until she got a closer look at the green colored locket. Christine had a blue colored locket.

"Cassie?" She looked a lot better than when Abby saw her the last time a few months back when she and Ronald visited her in Portland. She was really depressed and sad and looked like a mess but now, she was more… laid-back. Calm. At least until she got a good look at Abby.

"Oh God!" Cassie gave Abby a hug with bear strength and sighed with relief. "I was gonna visit you at your house but then I saw the cops at the front. I was really worried about you."

"What are you doing here?" Abby could not keep the panic in check as she realized her next vision might be becoming truth.

"I… I wanted to see you. I saw on TV that some student shot a gun at Blackwell and he injured Ron."

Abby tried her best not to freak out again as the panic was taking over her body again, stay calm and protect her friend, not wanting to get her into that flooded basement and let another of her premonitions come truth. "Cassie. You need to leave, now. Please."

Cassie shook her head in confusion. "What do you mean? I'm not gonna just abandon you…"

"Cassie. It's not safe for you."

Cassie could not help but let out a laugh. "Abby. I know you're afraid but it's gonna be OK." She laid her hands on Abby's shoulders, trying to comfort her but Abby's eyes suddenly filled new torrent of tears as she buried her face in her hands, breaking down again, the vision of Chloe's death flashing in front of her eyes.

" _No. It's not OK. She's gone. It's never gonna be OK again… She's gone…. It's never gonna be…_ "

"Shhh." Cassie hugged Abby and caressed her by her back, having enough experience with calming her down when she got a PTSD seizure. But she had no idea what was her friend going through at the moment or what was going to come their way if she stayed with Abby. "I'm here for you, Abs. I'm not leaving you, Ron or Chris any time soon. Just breathe. Just breathe. You have nothing to be afraid of."

She might rethink that statement soon enough.

* * *

Ronald was desperate. He prayed to God that Max was alright, so he drove to the campus and burst into the Girl's Dormitory. "Max! Max! Max!"

Ronald ran to Max's room, knocking on the door frantically. "Max, are you there? Max!"

Dana and Christine came out from their rooms, visibly tired and asleep, standing on their doorsteps. "Ron! It's middle of the night! What the hell are you…"

Ronald ran to Christine and grabbed her by her arms, shaking her and waking her up. "Have you seen Max? Have you seen Max?" He begged frantically.

"Ron, please just calm down and tell me what's going on! You're starting to scare me." Christine was visibly taken aback by his reaction as her voice started to tremble.

"Where is she, Chris?" Ronald asked impatiently.

"I don't know, OK? I haven't seen her the shooting incident this afternoon." Christine blurted out, shaking her head, visibly nervous by Ronald's current behavior and fully awake now.

"Did she or Chloe tell you anything?" Ronald shivered momentarily at saying her name out loud, the memory of her corpse in his arms still freshly burned into his mind.

"No, why?" Then Christine remembered Nathan running away from the campus last afternoon. "Wait, does it have anything to do with Nathan?"

Ronald nodded as his blood started to boil again quickly. "When I get my hands on that sick punk, I'm gonna kill him!" He let Christine go, realizing he'd find no clues here.

As he was about to leave, at the exit Christine grabbed Ronald's hand, begging him with her look while the rest of the girls were starting to wake up. "Ron. What's going on? Please." Christine asked gently.

Ronald looked down for a moment. The anger was quickly replaced by sadness and grief as the memory of looking at Chloe's and Rachel's corpses resurfaced in his mind. "Chloe... She… she's…" Ronald's voice cracked and his eyes slowly started to fill with tears as his breathing was becoming erratic but Ronald composed himself.

But that was enough for Christine to realize it as she covered her mouth and gasped in horror, shaking her head in denial and backing off, her voice becoming a bare whisper. "Oh God. Ron. No. No."

Ronald could not even look at his sister's best friend. "I'm sorry, Chris." Ronald then left the dorm, not wanting to waste any more time.

Christine knelt on her knees, breaking down in tears, almost as much wrecked as Abby was in the ambulance. "No. Chloe. No!" Dana ran to Christine, who covered her face, sobbing and grieving, comforting her as she embraced Christine in her arms.

* * *

Ronald drove to Chloe's house, luckily he still had a spare key as he rushed in. "Max. Max!" Ronald called out but no one was at home. David was probably still sitting his ass in a hotel room and Joyce was working late shift in the diner at the moment. "Max!" Ronald ran upstairs to Chloe's room and there he found all the clues that Max and Chloe had set up on board. Ronald turned on the light to look closely.

Cross-referencing David's surveillance files with coordinates, Frank's logbook and Nathan's correspondence with Frank.

Ronald was impressed but then he heard a familiar voice from downstairs. " _Chloe. Are you up there? I know it's early but at least hear me out. Please. I know I screwed things up royally._ "

 _Oh, come on._ Ronald sighed in frustration. _Didn't you get kick out for a while?_ He certainly wasn't in the mood to waste time with him.

"Ronald?" David noticed Ronald looking at the board in Chloe's room. Ronald tried to compose himself as he took a deep breath, and he knew that he could not just like that drop on David that Chloe is dead. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for Max. I think she may be in trouble." Ronald explained.

"What do you mean?"

Ronald tried hard not to lash out on David. Even though most of the time David was a harsh drill guy, Ronald has seen the good side of him and right now, he could see that at the moment he was talking to a man trying to make amends.

Ronald took a deep breath, trying to get this over with as soon as possible. "Short version – I busted Nathan pulling out a gun at Max, Chloe and Abby on campus this afternoon and I wanted to take him in but that little bastard almost shot me in my arm and bolted before I could involve the proper authorities.

Chloe, Abby and Max figured out Nathan was in some shady business and followed him. He drugged Kate at that party and took her somewhere... creepy before she got back to her dorm. She does not remember anything.

Abby and I got… side-tracked a bit and now I can't reach either Max or Chloe. And before you ask, I looked in the campus already."

"You think they are in trouble?"

Ronald nodded. "I got a voicemail from Max that Nathan's been drugging girls and doing some creepy photos of them under Prescott's barn. They found Rachel's body buried in the junkyard." Ronald closed his eyes and choked out, chill running through his spine, remembering freshly the corpses there. "Chloe… she… she didn't…"

"… take it well." David nodded. He knew how much Rachel had meant to Chloe, not realizing that Chloe had been killed. And Ronald did not intend to drop the bombshell and tear David up like that. He knew that would only make things worse and he needed to find Max fast.

"That was a few hours ago and now…" Ronald was worried about Max. Far more than he was worried about Abby after the rape incident.

"I need to find h…" Ronald bit his lip for a fraction of second. "…them. Max is not answering her phone."

David nodded again, not noticing Ronald's pause, luckily. "We'll get them back."

Ronald and David looked quickly at the organized clues on the board and Ronald quickly figured out that Nathan has most likely been in the Prescott's barn.

In David's voice was a little pride as he was eyeballing the board. "I must admit, Chloe and Max did very thorough job with…" Then he paused at it hit him when he looked closer at the clues. "Wait a moment. Are those my… They took my files!" David yelled, feeling violated and angry.

Ronald could not help but chuckle at that. _What goes around, comes around, I guess._

* * *

Cassie did her best consoling Abby, who was still trembling and sobbing uncontrollably as Cassie caressed her back. "Shhh. I'm right here, Abby. Just breathe."

After almost an hour Abby finally got a little hold of herself and calmed down as Doyle arrived to check in on her. "Give us a few more moments, please." Doyle nodded.

"She's dead… she's dead…" Abby sobbed out.

"Who's dead?" Cassie held Abby's hand gently. "Abby. It's OK. Nobody's gonna hurt you anymore. I know it must be hard for you but you can talk to me. Just tell me what happened."

Abby sniffed out again for a moment before she took a breath. "Chloe… she… I saw her… someone shot…" She could not take it anymore as the vision of Chloe's death flashed in front of her again and cried out again with another wave of grief and sorrow.

"Oh my God." Cassie gasped, remembering Chloe, both from the stories Ronald and Abby had told her about them growing up together and hanging out a bit with her and Christine before Chloe got expelled. She had no idea how could she comfort Abby but she did her best by holding Abby in her arms as her eyes started to fill with tears too, mourning Abby's close friend with her.

Doyle then came to them and tried to calm them both down.

* * *

Quickly going through the board, Ronald and David were able to deduce from the clues that Chloe and Max had cross-referenced that Nathan was holed up in the old Prescott's barn. And Ronald's blood again boiled quickly when he found out WHEN and with WHAT did Nathan drug Kate with.

"I did think so that Nathan drugged Kate Marsh." David muttered under his breath.

"Then why did you scare her off like that, David?" Ronald asked, trying to understand what was going on in his head.

"I'll admit I… I could have treated her better. At first I thought she had used her own…" David paused for a moment.

Ronald shook his head. _You are really impossible, David._

"Aw, come on. She made an abstinence campaign. And she's a devoted Christian and one of Abby's closest friends. At worst, she'd be using some pills for stress." Ronald couldn't help but laugh out a bit. _Why can't you show that side of yourself to the students instead of intimidating them?_

"I… I know I owe to all of you an apology, Ronald. And… I promise I'll try to make things right when this is all over." David's tone was sincere and… his facial expression serene.

"The sooner we find the girls, the better."

Ronald noticed the thunder roaring in the distance as he drove with David in their cars to the barn. _The storm…_ Ronald panicked. _The tornado! I need to find Max fast!_ He hit the gas as David hurried too.

* * *

Ronald and David drove to Prescott's barn where they found an opened hatch.

 _A bomb shelter? What the hell have you done, Nathan? If you are doing some creepy photos of Max right now, I'm gonna beat the hell out of you._ As much as Ronald wanted Nathan dead, he knew that no one would ever look at him the same way ever again and he did not want to go to jail for murder.

 _It's not what Max, Abby, Ian or Chloe would want._ He kept telling himself as they were cautiously entering the bunker with their guns drawn out.

And then suddenly Ronald heard Max's voice as David went ahead of him. "David! Ron! Look out!"

"How? How did you know that?" Called out a surprised voice _and certainly_ not the one Ronald had expected. _Jefferson?_

David entered the room and somebody knocked his gun off his hand with a tripod. Ronald heard Jefferson grunt and saw David throw a punch.

"Jefferson! It's over!" David yelled.

"You are not going to stop me!" Jefferson ran towards the other side of the room.

"Not so fast!" Ronald knew he had to act now as he jumped at Jefferson quickly and tackled him down. Ronald pummeled Jefferson relentlessly until he was knocked out and his face bruised and bloodied. Ronald was venting out his rage because of Chloe's death. "You are going to pay for what you did!"

"Hey, hey! Off! Off! He's down!" David pulled Ronald away as Ronald had to take a deep breath and calm down.

 _It's not what they would want, it's not what they would want._ For a moment he'd forgotten that David and Max were with him too and he realized that killing Jefferson in front of them would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Ronald then turned to Max while David restrained Jefferson with a nearby cord. "He won't be going anywhere when he wakes up." David looked at Jefferson with spite and disgust. "Except you are going to prison. Or worse."

Ronald undid the duct tape that had held Max as she gave him a tight hug. "Thank you, Ron." Max burst out in tears. "Thank you."

"It's OK, Max. You're safe now. It's over." Ronald patted Max.

As Max sighed intensely with relief, she looked at David next. "David. Thanks. You… you two saved me."

"No need to thank us, Max." David said. "You brought us here."

Max then looked at Ronald and noticed the bump on the back of his head. "What happened, Ron?"

"It doesn't matter, Max. What matters that I'm gonna get you to safety, now, OK?" Ronald laid his hands on her shoulders.

"Jefferson was… was going to kill me. Like he did to Victoria…"

 _Another chill went through Ronald's spine._

"Oh, Jesus Christ." Ronald breathed out.

"Oh, no." David sighed. "I always suspected that son of a bitch."

"And who didn't you suspect?" Ronald said frustrated.

"I know, Ronald, I know." David nodded. "And I wanna say to both of you that I'm sorry. For a lot of things." He sighed. "This is what I get for wasting all the time on the Prescott's. I set my sights too wide. Lack of focus."

"I know the feeling." Max nodded.

"I wasn't surprised when you and Abby accused Nathan of drugging Kate Marsh. I thought so too but I hadn't had enough evidence to back me up. You were lucky they did not suspend you two." David said.

"That's because Abby had ratted out Nathan to the Principal." Max explained. "She and I had seen Nathan with a gun in the bathroom the other day but… at first we thought no one would believe us."

"Abby told me everything." Ronald added. "I knew I had to act but... I waited too long for my chance."

"We all make decisions we regret. I…" David looked down in shame for a moment. "I treated Kate like shit. I know she's a good person but I'm not. I hope I get to tell her that soon."

Max nodded. "Me too. I think that would make her very happy."

In David's eyes were both anger and regret. "I knew Nathan Prescott was a threat. I just waited too long to neutralize him."

"Where is he, Max?" Ronald's blood boiled again, wanting to take Nathan in, not kill him anymore.

"He… and Jefferson had some weird father-son thing going on. But… Nathan killed Rachel and Jefferson had to use Nathan as a scapegoat."

"Yeah. I saw the body." Ronald nodded and swallowed hard, thinking about Chloe's body being next to her. He also had at least some closure by Nathan being gone.

"That pervert was pulling all this shit right under our noses. We could have stopped him if… if I only I wasn't so stupid."

"No. You weren't stupid, David. I was the one who hesitated too long."

"Everybody makes decisions they regret." David comforted her. "But I have to admit that I'm impressed by all of you… Chloe… Abby… by your investigation, how you stopped at nothing to take down Nathan."

"Yeah. We… we are a great team." Max nodded.

"That's one of my problems. Teamwork was never my specialty. Not even in service." David sighed.

"I cannot even imagine what you went through." Max and Ronald comforted him.

David glanced at Ronald and Max. "I'm not gonna make any excuses for my behavior. I tried to be a good soldier but… I wasn't so great. I tried to be a good father too but… you all saw how that went."

In that moment Ronald regretted lashing out at David the other day when Abby had gotten a panic attack in Joyce's house again.

Ronald laid a hand on David's shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up like that. You tried. It's obvious that you care even if you are…" Ronald paused.

"…fucked up. I know." David finished as Ronald chuckled.

"Chloe is tough. Just like you, David." Max said.

"I'm glad that we have at least something in common." David did his best trying to be honest and make amends. "I… I try not to use my service as an excuse but… it is hard to come home, after war. Most people don't know or care what it's like… except Joyce.

She gave me hope. A new life."

 _And I should have given you a chance and take it easier on you instead of throwing all that shit at you._ Ronald thought. _But maybe it's not too late to make amends._

"And you… you saved my life. Chloe… no matter how much she hates you, I think she'd be proud of you."

"I just want to see her safe with her mother." David said with worry in his tone. "I promised Joyce I would go see a family counselor and I'll start by apologizing to Chloe. I don't expect her to call me 'dad' but perhaps she'll stop calling me ‚step-douche'.

So, where is she?" David asked.

 _Oh, no._ Ronald thought, his mind running a thousand miles per hour and his heart racing a thousand beats per minute. He glared at Max and shook his head. _Don't tell him. Don't tell him._

"David, um…" Max choked out, swallowing hard. "She was really stressed out, so… she went to go medicate before I ended up here. So, she's OK."

"Oh, thank God." David sighed with relief and laughed. "For once I'm glad Chloe's a stoner."

"I'll get Max somewhere safe and call the cops, OK? Jefferson is going to jail now." Ronald went to Max and accompanied her.

"Of course." David patted them both by their shoulders. "You're brave soldiers, both of you. I'm glad Chloe has best friends like you two and Abby."

 _Abby. Ian. Jack. The flooded basement. The storm. Shit!_ Ronald remembered as his mind raced again. He needed to get to the hospital quickly.

"Let's get out of here, Max." They went out and Ronald accompanied Max to his car.

* * *

Ronald drove Max back to the town as Max listened to a voicemail and in her eyes was pure horror. She turned the phone on speaker.

It was Nathan. His tone was… cracked, he sounded like if he was crying, as if he was being led to an execution. As Ronald and Max listened to the message, they both felt a very deep swell of pity for him as they heard Nathan sobbing.

" _Max. It's… it's Nathan. I just wanted to say… I'm sorry, Max. I didn't want to hurt Kate or Rachel, or… didn't want to hurt anybody. Everybody… used me. Mr Jefferson is… coming for me now. All this shit will be over soon. Watch out, Max…. He's going after you and Abby next…I'm so sorry._ "

"Oh my God!" Ronald exclaimed. After listening to the message he regretted hating Nathan. He wished he'd just tried to get Nathan professional help instead of trying to take him down for his tantrums and drug dealing and kidnapping the girls.

 _I can't forgive you for what you've done, Nathan but I'll keep in mind that you never meant for things to happen the way they did._

But when they arrived back to town, the place had become a mess with the tornado coming it's way. People running away, trapped by the storm in the ruins… Max and Ronald ran across to help anyone they could until they found their way to the _Two Whales Diner_. But Ronald noticed the burning gasoline coming towards the diner.

"No!"

Max was two steps ahead of Ronald luckily thanks to her rewind power and ran towards a bin of dirt, dumping it to the leaking propane gas canister before it could blow up.

 _Pheew. Awful close._

Max and Ronald entered the diner through the stockroom.

"Max! Ron!" Abby, Ian together with Cassie ran towards Ronald and Max and gave them a tight hug.

"Oh. I'm so glad you're alive, Max!" Abby sighed with relief as her eyes again filled with tears. "I had a vision… I thought you and Chloe were… were…"

But Max breathed frantically and tried to get a hold of herself. "She's OK, right? Tell me that Chloe is…"

But as Abby looked into Max's eyes, she got her answer as she broke down again and they both cried, mourning their childhood friend as Ronald comforted them.

"I'm sorry, Abby."

"Don't worry, the man responsible will face justice soon enough."

Then he noticed a long scar on Abby's arm that certainly was not there when she was at the hospital.

"Did Jack do this? What the hell happened to you?" Ronald demanded as he grabbed Abby by her arms.

"Nothing good." Ian said as they started to tell what was happening to them while Ronald was looking for Max.


	21. Episode 5: Polarized - Part 2

_**Episode 5: Polarized - Chapter 2**_

"Are you sure Chloe's dead?" Cassie asked Abby, almost an hour after they both had recovered from the momentary shock of the crushing truth as Doyle went to bring them coffee.

 _All of my visions so far have come truth…_

"I keep seeing it in front of me…" Abby swallowed hard another wave of sobbing.

Cassie needed to know all the facts. "What… how…"

"You would not believe me, Cassie…" Abby tried to find the right words. "I… I've been having these… dreams lately… premonitions… so far almost everything has happened the way I saw it. And everytime I had these visions, everything went to shit."

Cassie tried to understand. "So… you're a… psychic?"

Abby wasn't sure about what she had. And why did Max have the rewind power and she was cursed with these premonitions.

"I don't know what I have but it is so fucked up…" Abby choked out again.

"Abby… you know that this is…" Cassie frowned skeptically.

"Insane? Ron and Chris reacted the same way at first."

"At first? So they really think you're a psychic?"

Abby paused for a moment. "I don't know what to call it but… I'm not the only one who has…" Abby was still worried about Max, praying to whatever universal power had given her and Max these powers that she is still alive. "… _something_. My… old friend can… _turn back time_."

"What?" Cassie hissed, her eyes widening in disbelief.

"I don't know how or why… but… it does not affect me… and… everytime I had those visions, it almost fucked me up." A chill went through Abby's spine. "And now Chloe's dead and Max might be too… and… we're both gonna die too if we stay here…" Abby broke down again as she remembered the storm.

Cassie wasn't sure what to believe but considering how wrecked Abby was at the moment and her PTSD, all that mattered to her was to comfort her friend as best as she could.

"Shhh. It's gonna be OK, Abby." Cassie gave Abby another hug. "We'll wait until Ian recovers and then we'll get out of here."

Suddenly the lights started to flicker and soon enough the hospital blacked out.

"Aw, come on. Fucking storm!" A nearby doctor exclaimed.

" _The storm…_ " Abby realized what was going on as she grabbed Cassie's hand and got up. "Cassie, we gotta get out of here!"

"What's going on?" Cassie looked confused.

"The tornado is coming our way! It's not safe here!"

Suddenly gunshots and screams went out of the corridor. " _That psycho has a gun!_ "

"Drop it!" The ceiling then started to crack as somebody yelled in pain. A moment later from the corner then showed up the last person Abby needed to see as she started to panic.

Cassie gasped, seeing Jack with bruised face, in his eye vengeful glare, the one not covered with bandage. "What the f…"

Abby grabbed Cassie's arm as she got up. "Cassie, run!"

Abby and Cassie kept their heads down while sprinting through the corridor as Jack fired at them and Cassie and Abby screamed in panic, while the bullets hit the walls and carts with medical equipment near them. "Where do you think you're going, you fucking whore?"

"Who the hell is this guy?" Cassie exclaimed.

"He's been trying to kill me, Ron and Ian!" Abby said in short version as they made turned around the corner.

"I'm gonna make you suffer, bitch!" Jack yelled angrily.

Soon enough pipes fell from the ceiling and blocked Abby's and Cassie's escape path in the corridor. "Get back!" Cassie pulled Abby away as they then took it through the fire escape, jumping several steps as they went down.

"Help! Somebody help us!" Cassie screamed out. When they got to the ground floor, Abby kicked the door open as they burst out. Hospital security and some of the stationed police officers took notice of them.

"What's going on?"

"He's trying to kill us!" Cassie exclaimed.

"Who?"

"You're both fucking dead!" Jack yelled from upstairs as the guards and cops pulled out their guns.

"Don't move! Put the gun down!" One of the guards ordered as the rest stepped up in front of Abby and Cassie.

Jack aimed at one of the guards, while another guard shot Jack in the leg and then restrained him. The rest of the police officers stationed in the hospital then arrived to the lobby.

"How did he get out?"

"The storm hit a part of eastern wing. He must have gotten loose thanks to the mess it made."

"Lock him in the basement!"

 _The basement? Oh, shit!_ Abby thought as she remembered her vision. She wanted to get Cassie to safety but her body could not take the stress and panic anymore as her heart started to race more and more increasingly, beating faster and faster as she fainted.

* * *

When Abby woke up, she was on the stretcher in reception, Ian and Cassie standing next to her. Ian had bandaged arm.

"Are you OK, Abby?" Ian asked her as he held her hand gently and Cassie caressed her face.

"I feel like a mess." Abby said honestly as her headache returned.

Ian shrugged. "Understandable. You've been out for almost an hour."

"Ian. We gotta get out of here." Abby grabbed his hand.

"Why?"

"You're gonna think I'm nuts but…"

"You're a psychic? Ronald gave me a short version." Ian said as Abby raised her brows. _I guess it was inevitable._

"Where's that psycho?" Abby asked.

"The cops have him cuffed in the basement. He ain't going anywhere anytime soon."

"We gotta get out of here." Abby repeated.

"And go where?" Cassie said. "It's not like we'd get far in the storm. The hospital was already evacuated during the storm and most of the emergency vehicles are gone."

"Guys. The tornado is coming to wipe Arcadia Bay off the face of the Earth. Today." Abby said more bluntly than she wanted to. Right now they were literally running out of time.

Ian asked. "Are you seri…" The lights started to suddenly flickered and the ceiling cracked again.

"No, no, no, no!" Abby panicked. "We gotta move, now!" She got up and started to run towards the entrance. Ian got ahead of her and got out up the ceiling fell down and blocked the path for Abby and Cassie.

"Abby! Cassie! Are you alright?" Ian yelled through the rubble.

"Try to look for a way around to get back inside and wait for us! We'll find another way out!" Cassie yelled.

"You sure?"

"No but you got a better plan?"

"OK! I'll try to get to you somehow! Just watch out!"

Most of the corridors were blocked because of the rubble and where there were windows which did lead outside and ground was low enough for Abby and Cassie to jump was unfortunately too flooded and the current would pull them away.

"We gotta go through the basement." Cassie sighed.

A chill went through Abby's spine again. "Are you crazy? That psycho's gonna kill us!" In truth she did not want another of her visions to come true.

"Do you have a better plan? And he's cuffed anyway!" Cassie retorted.

 _Damn it. Looks like it is inevitable._

Abby and Cassie went to the basement but they had to crawl their way through the rubble which blocked their path as they went down the stairs.

"So you're looking for another round?" Jack smirked as Abby and Cassie were looking at him.

"In case you didn't notice, asshole, the flood is coming to this town!" Cassie said bluntly as she and Abby started to shiver with cold.

Abby tried to open the hatch to the sewers but she was not strong enough to open it, nor did help Cassie's assistance.

"The window's blocked." Abby said as she tried to open it. But the ceiling fell apart again and the rubble blocked the way back upstairs as the basement started to fill with water quickly. The falling debris did a long scratch on Abby's arm as she covered her head while jumping back downstairs.

 _Oh, shit, oh, shit, oh, shit, oh, shit, oh, shit!_ Abby's mind raced again as she panicked. Abby tried to open the hatch in vain, not even Cassie's support helped and then she tried to knock the window glass but she wasn't strong enough.

"Abby, find another way out!" Cassie yelled.

"Please. Don't leave me here! Don't let me die in here!" Jack begged.

 _As much as you'd have it coming, I'm not gonna be responsible for your death, asshole._ "You try anything, I'm gonna kill you, bastard!" Abby said angrily.

Jack certainly was not in mood for some games and he knew far too well he had more important matters to attend to.

Abby grabbed a nearby hammer and smashed the chain of Jack's cuffs and then he helped the girls open the hatch.

As the hatch opened, the water which flooded the basement spilled down and the water left the basement as Abby, Cassie and Jack went down the hatch and to the sewer.

"Thank you." Jack said honestly. "You saved me, even if you didn't have to." He was sincerely grateful.

"I didn't do it for you." Abby said angrily.

"I know." Jack nodded.

"If we make it out of this alive, I don't wanna see you, not even near my friends, ever again!" Abby growled.

"Believe me, I ain't gonna mess anytime soon with your boyfriend or your brother." Jack mumbled as it made Abby laugh. _Good thing they both did quite a number on you, you motherfucker._

As the scoured the sewer, they climbed onto a nearby ladder to the street of the town, which became quite a mess.

While they were running through the town to safety, they heard crackling above their heads as the debris from a building right next to their shoulder started to fall down as the building was falling apart.

"Look out!" Jack yelled as he pushed Abby and Cassie away and he was buried under the debris.

"Oh God!" Cassie covered her mouth. "Is he… is he…"

Abby tried to pull Jack out but she noticed that his head started to bleed. "He's not gonna make it!"

 _I'm sorry. As much as I hated you, you saved me. I cannot forgive you for what you've done to me but… I'll remember that you saved my life._ She grabbed Jack's hand. "Thank you."

"Leave him, Abs! We don't have time!" Cassie grabbed Abby's arm as they ran towards the diner. Soon enough Ian found them both.

"You OK? You're bleeding!" Ian asked as he noticed Abby's arm.

"I'll be fine, Ian!"

When they got there, Joyce ran to them, hugging them. "Abby! Christine!"

"Joyce! I'm so glad you're OK!"

Cassie noticed that Joyce did not remember her since she left town last year. " _Cassandra_ , actually. Remember me, Joyce?"

It then hit Joyce when she remembered Christine and Cassie visiting the diner from time to time. "Oh, you picked the worst timing for coming back home."

Abby, Ian and Cassie then waited for Max and Ronald to get to the diner. Meanwhile Frank and Warren and Christine got into the restaurant. When Abby finished her story, Ronald and Max started to talk.

"What about you?" Abby asked. "Where's Nathan?" Abby wanted to be sure that he would not hurt anyone ever again.

"Gone." Max said. "But it wasn't all on him. It was Jefferson."

"What?" Abby asked shocked. Mark Jefferson was one of the kindest teachers in Blackwell.

"Yeah. That son of a bitch did all this shit right under our noses, Nathan was just a pawn." Ronald nodded. "He did sick photos of girl students while Nathan drugged them."

"That's why he…" Cassie gasped in horror and disgust, realizing why did Nathan almost drug her.

"Yeah." Max nodded. "Nathan accidentally OD'd Rachel and buried her in the junkyard. Jefferson killed him and wanted to blame it all on him."

"Where is he?"

"The cops are gonna take care of him." Ronald said.

"He's the one that… _Chloe_?" Abby whispered, not saying Chloe's name loud in front of Joyce. Ronald looked down and Max nodded, sniffing. Abby shed more tears as she covered her face.

Christine came over to them as she sighed with relief over her friends being safe while crying because of Chloe's death. "Oh, I'm so glad you're alright."

"What now? We can't just sit here and wait for the storm to wipe us all." Ronald said, trying to focus, as soon as everybody recovered. Max then turned and saw Warren, coming to him.

"What are you doing, Max?" Abby asked.

"I need Warren's photo."

"What? Why?" Christine asked confused. Max looked down and then there was a grave pause before Max spoke up, in more grim tone this time.

"I… I… I fucked it all up, guys."

"What do you mean?" Abby blinked in surprise.

"I… it was after your… panic attack back in Chloe's house, we found out that… Rachel was… cheating on Chloe with Frank and… Chloe kinda flipped on everyone… she was so mad that we left her… that her life went to shit since her dad had died…"

 _Sounds like her._ Abby thought. She was not surprised that Chloe overreacted like that.

"… and when I was back in our dorm, I looked at the photo of me and Chloe from the day when William died… And somehow… I got back into that moment and… and I tried to fix it. I… I stopped William from taking the car to pick up Joyce. I saved him but…"

"…but…" Abby knew from films and novels that changing the past has severe impact on present and future. _The butterfly effect. One seemingly small event can topple a row of dominoes._

Max looked down for a moment again as her eyes started to fill with tears and she looked at Abby like if she was looking at a ghost. "… you were dead, Abby. You… drowned when you were on vacation with Ron and… Chloe… she got into a car crash and she was paralyzed. Ron and I had to take care of her but she was slowly dying and… and we… we had to…" Max swallowed hard.

Abby gasped. "Oh my God." And then in her memories flashed something that she has never seen before, or at least does not remember seeing.

* * *

 _2011, Cannon Beach Summer Camp_

Abby was exercising in her room and getting ready for a race with Christine. "Abby! We've got a letter from Price's!" Ronald called in front of their cabin.

Abby was glad that Chloe had written back to her, at least until she read the letter as she gasped.

"What is it, Abs?" Ronald asked, confused by her horrified look.

"Chloe… she… she's been in a… in… car cr…" Abby choked out.

Ronald swallowed hard as he realized what words was Abby trying to get out of her mouth but the horror was holding her back. "Oh my God. Is… is she…"

"She survived but she's…" Abby was frozen in shock. Ronald gently took the letter from her hand and read it.

" _Ronald, Abby._

 _This is going to be hard for you to accept._

 _Chloe has gotten into a car crash and is paralyzed now. She needs some support from her friends now. She is really depressed now. Please, come home to her. It would make her happy to see you again._

 _With love,_

 _Joyce and William Price_ "

Ronald looked down for a moment as Abby sat down in horror.

"I… I think we should let the race today for later."

"I… I don't know, Ron. I… We've been training so hard and Christine and Cassie…"

"… will understand but…"

"We can come back home when we are done with this race today. No. I can do this." Abby said firmly.

"You sure you wanna do this?" Christine asked, honestly concerned for Abby despite their rivalry in surfing as they swam forward on their boards, Ronald, Cassie and their parents watching on the shore. "I mean, she's your childhood friend."

"I… I appreciate the worry but I can do this."

"I… I just don't want something to let you hold back. I know that we get on each other's throat sometime but…"

"I hear you, Chris. But would you delay that since you've worked so hard." The tide was rising slowly as the girls stood up and surfed towards it and along the wave but suddenly something flashed in front of Abby.

 _Chloe was lying in a ditch in her crashed car, severely injured and bloodied._

Abby gasped in horror as she suddenly lost balance and fell underwater and the last thing she remembered was something blunt hitting the temporal bone of her head.

"Abby!" Christine screamed as she left the tide and got down her board, swimming to Abby, and she noticed blood on the side of her head when she pulled her to the surface of the water, which was hard because of the tide. "Oh, God, no!" Christine then screamed for lifeguard as she tried to swim back to the shore, holding Abby's unconscious body. "Help! I need a medic here, now! Somebody help her!"

Ronald heard her and when he and Cassie saw Christine holding Abby in her arms, he motioned to the referee to call an ambulance and medics. Ronald, Cassie and the parents, Annie and Nick Powell and Jess and Robert Masters ran towards them.

The lifeguards helped get Abby and Christine back to the shore and when they noticed blood on the side of Abby's head, they were horrified.

"Oh dear God." Abby's mother covered her mouth.

The medics tried to perform a CPR on Abby and tend to the wound on her head. "C'mon. C'mon, Abby!"

Abby's mother covered her mouth as her husband hugged her, trying to comfort her while Ronald wrapped the twin sisters in his arms as Cassie and Christine held each other's hands, praying that Abby would survive. But the chances weren't unfortunately in her favor as almost no one survives such accidents.

After what felt like an eternity of trying to reviving her, the medics shook their heads as they looked at each other with sorrowful expressions in their faces. Everyone broke down in sobbing, and Ronald and the twin sisters felt the weight both of grief, sorrow and guilt as they could not talk Abby out of this.

* * *

"I… I remember…" Abby choked out, barely being able to breathe, horror taking over as she realized what had Max done and what had she gone through. "I… remember the race… Chloe's accident… I remember everything…" Abby then looked at Max, like if she was not sure anymore what to think.

"You… you did this? You… saved Chloe's dad and changed… everything…"

"… but it all went to shit. I just wanted Chloe to be happy but… I fucked it all up…" Max sobbed. Abby gave Max another tight hug, trying to comfort her and Cassie and Ronald joined. Despite the fact that Cassie did not understand what was going on, she knew her friends need all the support they can get.

"Don't blame yourself, Max. If I were in your position, I would have tried to do anything I could to make Chloe happy again." Abby comforted Max as she tried to keep her emotions in check but the tears flooding her and Max's eyes again.

After a few moments of comforting everybody comforting Max and Abby, Abby saw Warren behind Max and she realized why did Max want his photo.

"Wait? You want Warren's photo to go back in time again? Isn't that gonna make things worse?" Christine asked.

"I gotta save Chloe!" Max said stubbornly.

Abby couldn't let Max risk that things would get worse again. "At what cost?"

Max turned around and glared at everyone. "What would you have done, guys?! If you had a chance to save each others from death, would you let anything stop you?"

Everyone paused for a moment. "I don't know if I would be able to live with myself and look at myself in the mirror if saving my best friend meant leaving everyone and everything else I know to the fate."

"I can't just leave her to die!" Max exclaimed.

"And what about us?" Ronald yelled at her.

"Do you think Chloe would want you to leave _us all_ to die?" Christine noted.

Abby then paused for a moment until she looked at Max, with understanding and feeling sorry for her having to do this choice.

Ian then tried to reason with Max. "Ask yourself: What would Chloe want?"

"Maybe I can ask her myself when I get there." Max widened her eyes in realization as she was about to go to Warren.

"Wait, Max!" Ronald yelled.

"When you get back, call us and tell us all to leave Jack to the cops and leave Arcadia Bay. That me, Abby, Cassie, Chris and Ian need to get out of here because of the tornado! If you don't wanna leave Chloe behind, then don't leave us behind either!"

Max nodded and looked at Ronald for a few moments and gave her good friend and a man she'd considered her big brother a tight hug and let it last.

"I'll find a way to save you all!" Max yelled.

"Good luck, Max!" Abby said.

Ronald and Ian went to Frank who was cuffed to a counter and injured. "Hey Frank. Are you OK?"

"Been worse. My Rachel…" Frank sobbed.

"I know, Frank." Ronald nodded. "But he's going to jail now."

"Yeah. At least I get some closure."

"What about Jack Brown?" Frank glared at Ian.

"Gone." Ronald said bluntly.

"Good riddance, I say." Frank chuckled. "That guy was a psychopath."

"You don't say." Ronald mumbled.

"You look like shit, you two. Did he do this to you?"

"He should have known better than to go after my sister and Ian."

"Yeah. Nobody messes with Ronald Powell." Frank noted.

Ronald then looked in the shattered window glass's reflection and saw Max kissing Warren and then focusing on the photo.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _The conclusion of my story is drawing near, ladies and gentlemen. I hope you liked it and I would be pleased to know your opinions and comments and reminders towards inconsitencies with the game's plot etc._

 _Next up:_

 ** _SACRIFICE ARCADIA BAY_** _storyline and **SACRIFICE CHLOE** storyline for Abby, Ronald and their friends._


	22. Ending - Sacrifice Arcadia Bay

_**Ending - Sacrifice Arcadia Bay**_

Abby was sitting in an ambulance while the medics were comforting her and treating her and Ian's injuries as one of the policemen handed her a cup of coffee.

Ronald's phone then buzzed as he picked it up. "Hello?"

He then heard Max's voice. She was clearly horrified and it sounded like she was in a hurry. " _Ron. Listen. We don't have much time. Get Abby, Christine, Cassie and Ian out of town and leave Jack to the cops! Hurry!_ "

For a moment Ronald felt like if he'd been hit in the stomach with cannonball as he blinked in surprise. "Wait, Max, how the hell do you…"

" _There's no time for explanation, Ron! The storm is on it's way! You need to get them out of Arcadia Bay now!_ "

Ronald looked into the sky and noticed the two moons on the horizon. _No way Max would joke like that._

"Are you OK? What about Nathan?" Ronald asked Max worryingly as he tried to keep his emotions in check.

" _Don't worry about us, just get out of town, please! Leave it to us!_ " Max practically begged and she was almost getting hysterical.

"OK, OK. Just… watch your backs." Ronald could tell Max was serious and he knew that not listening to her might be catastrophic. As soon as Max hug up, he and Ian ran to the ambulance.

"Can I take my sister to safety, please?" Ronald asked the medic.

"Most of her injuries have been tended to but we should take her to the hosp…"

"I got this. Please." Ronald said as gently as he could. He knew one thing – if Max was freaking out like that, he needed to listen to her. The medic nodded after a moment and Ronald picked Abby up as she was too weak to struggle after the medication for stress.

"What's going on, Ron?" Abby asked confused.

"The storm. We have to go." Ronald explained as Abby nodded. Luckily the medication kept her panic in check. "But let's get Cassie and Christine out of here first."

As Ronald grabbed Abby to the car, Ian with a bandaged arm and Shane walked to them. "Where are you two going?"

Ronald said bluntly. "The tornado is coming towards the town, we gotta go!"

"Are you crazy?" Shane exclaimed surprised. "And what about the poli…"

"No time! We gotta leave now or we're all dead!" Ronald bellowed. Ian and Shane could tell Ronald was serious and considering there were dark clouds nearing in the sky, both of them took Ronald for his word.

"Go ahead. I'll pick Abby's friends first. We'll meet halfway." Ronald ordered. "Go!"

* * *

Ronald drove to the campus and Abby sat at the passenger seat while Ian was in the back, Abby was calling on Christine's phone, praying she'd pick it up.

"Got her."

"Put it on speaker, Abs." Ronald said as he had his eyes on the road.

" _Hello?_ "

"Chris, it's Ronald. Look, Abby and I are on our way to campus. Pack your things and wait for us there with Cassie."

Christine sounded confused. " _What, why?_ " Then there was a pause as Christine realized it. " _Oh my God, the storm!_ "

"We gotta get you girls to safety, just grab your stuff!" Ronald yelled.

" _OK, OK! I'll call Cassie and tell her to wait for us in front of the dorm._ " Christine hung up as she started to breathe frantically.

Soon enough, the twin sisters waited in front of the campus with their duffle bags.

"You ready?" Ronald asked as he heard the thunder in the distance.

Cassie could tell things were getting serious as Christine, Ronald and Abby were freaking out, so she just nodded as they entered his car.

"OK, let's go!"

Ronald drove through the storm with the windscreen wipers turned on to watch the road through the rain. Soon enough they left Arcadia Bay behind as they saw in the rear mirror a tornado behind them.

"Oh my God!" Cassie exclaimed.

"I… I can't believe we left them all behind…" Christine said with grim tone and in her eyes disbelief and sadness.

"We couldn't save them all." Ronald looked down in shame.

Abby suddenly yelled. "Ron, watch out!" But then the car over a bump in the road which caused him to lose control of the car and he hit a lamp with the side of the car and the impact knocked Abby out.

* * *

When Abby woke up, she felt weak, her whole body hurt and she was in a room with white walls. She noticed she felt something soft on her bare skin and a something solid on her right arm as she realized she was in a hospital room, wearing a gown and a plaster on her arm. She felt her side being in sharp pain as she let out a weak scream and tried to take a breath while getting up.

 _I must have a broken rib or maybe more. Being in a car crash feels a lot differently than being a victim of an attempted rape._

As she looked outside the window, she realized she wasn't in Arcadia Bay anymore. She looked at the hospital number on her wrist.

" _Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital, Newport, Oregon_ "

"Hello?" Abby called out.

Soon enough Ronald walking with a crutch and a bandaged leg, their parents, Veronica and Nicholas Powell, Shane, Ian and the Masters's twin sisters, Cassie having a bandage around her head and Christine with a bruise on her face rushed in. Ian was mostly uninjured if not considering the previous injuries from fight with Jack. The twin sisters hugged Abby.

"Oh God. We thought you were not gonna make it!"

"Oww, easy!" Abby screamed as her body was in excruciating pain.

"Sorry." The sisters instantly let her go and had an apologetic look on their faces.

"Mom. Dad."

"We're so glad you're alright, Abigail." Her mother hugged her more gently than the twin sisters. "In that crash you broke your arm and at least three ribs. You're lucky they did not pierce your lungs."

Then Abby suddenly remembered. "Wait. What about the storm? What about Arcadia Bay?"

Everybody looked down and that was a sufficient answer enough for Abby as she started to sob, mourning all her friends and the people left to their fate, tears streaming down her face. _Joyce, David, Warren, Brooke, Dana…_

She noticed a vase next to her, sent from Kate Marsh. _At least your parents could get you to safety._ Abby smiled as she could have at least some relief.

"I'm sorry, Abby." Christine held Abby's hand, the one not without plaster.

"What about Max? What about Chloe?" Abby asked, suddenly remembering.

Ronald looked at his parents. "Could you leave us for a few moments, please?" Nicholas and Veronica nodded in understanding and Shane left with them.

Ronald put a phone on a drawer and played a recorded message to which the Powell siblings and the Masters twin sisters listened.

Max's voice was full of sorrow and guilt.

" _Ron. Abby. It's Max._

 _Look, I… I'm leaving this message for you in case you make it out alive or if one of you or Chris or Cassie don't._

 _I wanna say… I'm sorry for whatever hell did you go through during the storm. I really am. I wish I could have prevented this but… the only way to do that…_ " Max sniffed and they could hear sobbing in the background and hard swallowing. " _I couldn't do it, Abby._ "

Abby suddenly remembered her conversation with Max in the diner during the storm.

" _I couldn't just let Chloe die. I couldn't trade her for this… She means so much to me…_ _but now everyone else is dead because of me…_ " Max sobbed out loudly. " _This is all my fault. I thought if I'd turn back time and fix all this, everything would be OK but it all happened because I was trying to go back in time and fix everything._

 _I made this mess. Now everyone is dead or… if they're not… how am I supposed to live with myself?_

 _Was Chloe worth all this?_ " Max broke down for a few minutes until she inhaled intensely and swallowed hard again. While everybody listened, they all felt deep pity and understanding for Max and the impossible choice she had to make.

" _I… if some of you don't make it out alive, I just wanna say… I'm sorry. I'll understand if you'll hate me for it but… I couldn't leave her to die…_

 _I hope you can understand that._

 _Goodbye._ "

Abby shed a whole new torrent of tears again as she covered her face. She then picked the phone and dialed Max's number. After what felt like an eternity, Max picked up, obviously she was afraid how Abby or anyone else who had survived might react.

After a moment of hesitation, Max spoke up on the phone. " _Abby, I…_ "

"Max. Please just hear me out. I… We're all OK." Max sighed with relief. "Look, I… I don't blame you for what you did." Abby could hear Max sniffing. "I… I can't say I would have made a different choice if I was in your shoes. I... I get that you couldn't let Chloe die. And all those people…" Abby looked outside the window. She honestly wasn't sure if she would leave Chloe or her best friend Christine to die just so an entire town could survive or if she would be able to live with trade all those people for Chloe or Christine living.

"I just wanna say… I'm sorry you had to do it and go through all that. I just… I wish things hadn't had to go the way they had, that you and I… that none of us hadn't had to go through all this shit.

I… I forgive you, Max. I don't know what I would have done differently if I were you. As much as I'll miss everyone back in Bay… We'll always be together, Max. And you and Chloe will always be our sisters." Abby sniffed out after that.

She could hear Max crying as she answered. " _Thank you, Abby._ " After that she hung up. Abby, Ronald, Christine, Cassie and Ian then looked outside the window, the sun rising up and they all were waiting for an all new day to come. An all new life.


	23. Ending - Sacrifice Chloe

_**Ending – Sacrifice Chloe**_

 _Monday, 7th October, 2013, Blackwell Academy_

Abby was drinking from the fountain, while thinking about her dream about the storm until her brother ran to her and hugged her, grateful that the drowning incident didn't have too much of an impact on her.

"I'm so glad you're OK."

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me, Ron." Abby comforted him.

"I'm your big brother. It's in my line of work to worry about you. I don't want you to end up like Rachel, Cassie or Kate. Did you go see the nurse?"

"I said I'm fine. I just… need to get some sleep right now, OK?" Abby calmed Ronald down and then she saw a girl in punk outfit going into the bathroom who seemed familiar to her.

"What's going on, Abs?" Ronald turned around and looked behind him.

"I... nothing. I thought I saw… never mind." Abby tried to forget her thoughts.

"What about you and Max?" Ronald asked Abby about her reunion with her childhood friends.

"We're good. I'm glad I talked to her again."

"What about her and Chloe?" Ronald frowned and crossed his arms as Nathan Prescott was walking behind him past the corridor, talking to himself.

"I… I did not want to force her to talk with her." Abby uttered. "I mean… you know how shy Max can be. And to be honest, it's been a few months since I talked to her too. I… it just seemed like a bad idea."

Ronald nodded in understanding and then suddenly a loud "BANG" went off from the corner as Abby yelped, getting startled by it.

"What the hell?" Ronald turned around and Abby and Ronald went towards the bathroom. As they bursted in, they saw Chloe bleeding from the abdomen and falling on the floor and Nathan holding a gun and ripping his hair in horror.

Abby gasped horrified and covered her mouth, instantly recognizing her childhood friend who also had gotten expelled last year from Blackwell and Ronald glared at Nathan with hateful look.

"What have you done? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Ronald screamed.

Nathan backed off, trembling and raising his hands, in his eyes panic. "I didn't… I didn't mean to…"

Ronald grabbed Nathan by his jacket and threw him across the bathroom. "You son of a bitch! Pray to God that she makes it, because if she dies, I'M GONNA KILL YOU, PRESCOTT!"

Meanwhile Abby was focused on Chloe, tears quickly streaming down her face as she instantly recognized her. She instantly put a pressure on Chloe's abdomen to slow down the bleeding and pulled out her phone.

"My God, Chloe! It's gonna be OK, it's gonna be OK, just hold on…" Abby panicked as Chloe looked at her, chuckling from meeting her friend who had distanced herself from her.

"Abby… You… picked the worst… timing…"

 _Still cracking jokes, even with your life on the line, huh?_

Abby tried to let out a laugh as she panicked. "Just hold on, we're gonna get you to the hospital." After a few seconds someone picked up the call.

" _911, Arcadia Bay Emergency Service. How can we help you?_ "

"I need an ambulance, now! Blackwell Academy, Girl's Bathroom in the main building. My friend's been shot! Please, hurry!"

" _We've dispatched one right away, ma'am. Please, try to hold on the pressure on the wound and keep the injured awake, please._ " Abby nodded as the emergency service hung up.

"Stay awake for me, Chloe, please." Abby put more pressure on the wound with both her hands but Chloe's eyes started to close as she began to drift away. "No, Chloe, please! Don't do this to me, no!" Abby started to sob out.

 _Not again, not like Ian, not again, please…_ Abby was praying that Chloe'd survive as the flashback from the rape incident when she held Ian in her arms, trying to stop the bleeding from his abdomen, resurfaced in her mind.

Abby tried to come up with anything to keep Chloe awake. "Max is back! When you're better, we can all have a reunion, play back in your garden, dressing as pirates and visit the lighthouse, just like when we were kids, OK? Please, just don't die on me! We can watch movie back in your house when you get better." Abby's vision was getting blurred by the pricking, cold tears.

The medics and the security chief David Madsen rushed in and David tried to pull Abby away. "Abby, you did well, but leave it to the professionals now." David comforted her.

"No! I can save her!" Abby yelled.

"You did what you could, Abby." David patted her shoulder and she finally nodded. "It's OK. You can't do anything else for her anymore. Let the medics do their job." David did his best trying to console her.

Abby let David pull her away from Chloe with her body still tensed up in disbelief and shock.

Ronald handed cuffed Nathan who had bruised face thanks to Ronald beating him up, but showing some restraint, having learnt from the bar incident, to David. Ronald then came to Abby, embracing her behind her back and both of them stayed back, standing near the stalls.

The medics meanwhile tended to the wound and put one of the self-inflating masks with a bag on Chloe's face, trying to resuscitate her and attaching defibrillator to Chloe's chest with a heart monitor.

Abby covered her mouth in horror with Ronald frequently choking out and both of them were holding back tears. After a few more moments of vainly trying to revive Chloe, one of the medics put his hand on Chloe's neck and he shook his head, with a grim expression on his face. When Abby saw that, she could not accept the fact that Chloe was dead as she ran towards her and shook Chloe.

Chloe would try sometimes prank Abby and scare her, as a payback for distancing herself from her.

"OK, Chloe! Prank time's over! You scared us all enough, so stop it, please? If this is a payback because I wasn't there enough for you after William, I'm sorry, OK? Is that what you wanna hear?" Abby begged Chloe to stay alive. "I'm sorry I abandoned you! I'm sorry that Rachel had to replace me and Max just so that you'd lose her too!

Please, just stop scaring me like that!"

Another wave of sorrow, horror and grief went through Abby as she was slamming Chloe's chest frantically. "You can't do this to me! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME! OPEN YOUR EYES, DAMN IT, CHLOE!"

"Abby. There's nothing you can do for her anymore. You need to let go, please." Ronald came to her.

"No! I won't leave her!"

A medic called out. "Somebody get her out of here!"

Ronald stopped the guards who were about to take her away. "Just give her a few more moments, please."

The medics and the guards nodded and after what felt like an eternity of grieving, Ronald put his hand on her shoulders.

"Abigail, I know it's hard but please…"

Abby finally nodded as Ronald grabbed his sister by her arms as he could not hold back any more tears. Abby let her brother take her away but suddenly she got a flashback of Chloe being ran over by a train in the junkyard and getting shot in the head in the night.

" _No! Noooo! Chloe! Chloeee! Chloeeee! Noooo!_ " Abby screamed out hysterically as Ronald gave her a tight hug, trying to calm her down, crying out too when they got out of into the corridor, both of them crying and mourning the loss of their childhood friend.

The gathered students could do nothing but feel sorry for the girl who has been dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder since she has almost been raped and watching her former boyfriend almost die, mourning the death of her friend, just right after she almost drowned in the swimming pool. Christine came to Ronald and Abby, her face full of tears, trying to comfort them both. One of the medics arrived and gave Abby a syringe full of sedative into her shoulder to calm her down as her vision faded away and she just sobbed quietly.

* * *

Abby was asleep in the nurse's office, under medication against stress while her brother was talking with the nurse, An-Marie Barenchi.

"I don't see how can she ever be fine after that again. If it was just the drowning, fine but…"

"I know." Nurse Barenchi nodded. "It may be far too traumatic for her to get ahold of herself. The best thing you can do for her, Ronald, is be by her side. You and her friends. Is there anyone who you can think of?" She asked.

"Well…" Ronald started to think about Max and Christine instantly but somebody knocked on nurse's office before he could speak up. When the nurse called, David Madsen opened the door a little. "Can I talk with Ronald for a moment?"

Nurse Barenchi nodded and Ronald went to the door. "What is it?"

"There may have been a witness to…" David paused a bit and swallowed hard trying to compose himself. "…the whole thing. I think you and Abby know her, Maxine Caulfield."

Ronald blinked in surprise. "Max?"

"We found her hiding behind the stalls, crouched and hysterical. I think she saw everything."

Ronald gasped, covering his mouth, realizing that Max had not seen Chloe in five years and the first time she finally did might have also been the last. "Oh my God. Is she…"

"Not injured but…" David glanced at Abby.

"I see." Ronald nodded in understanding. "Where is she now?"

"With a therapist the police brought. Abby might need one too."

"Good idea. But… let her rest first, OK?"

"Of course."

David was about to close the door but Ronald stopped him. "Look, I… I'm sorry. I'm sorry for saying all that stuff about you and…"

"No." David shook his head. "You… You were right for the most part. I… I should not have suspected everybody right away. Nathan was the real threat. I could have stopped him if…" David choked out and did his best to get a hold of himself.

Ronald patted David's shoulder. "It's not your fault. Just… tell Joyce that… that we're sorry…"

David nodded. "We'll call you when is the funeral." With that he closed the door. Ronald then picked his phone as he got a call. "Mom?"

" _Ronald? We saw the news. Is it true? Is Chloe…_ " Veronica Powell asked while sniffing.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I couldn't stop it." Ronald choked out, trying to get a hold of himself and not crying but Abby started to sob out quietly again.

" _It's not your fault, sweetheart. Don't blame yourself._ "

"I can't believe that bastard did this to Chloe." Ronald's blood boiled with anger and hatred. "I should have…"

" _Ronald Frederick Powell, I know you're angry but do you want to go back to prison?_ " Veronica asked seriously.

"I know, Mom. I know. I just…" Ronald wiped his eyes with his fingers in frustration.

" _I know, baby. How's Abigail?_ "

"Sleeping." Ronald looked at his sister who was curled in a ball, who had her eyes closed and had a calm expression in her face. He hoped that Chloe's death was not haunting her in her dreams. Now he knew how she must have felt in the hospital after the rape incident. "I… Can you get here as soon as possible?"

" _We'll try._ "

"Tell Dad we said ' _hello_ ' and give him a kiss for us, please."

" _I will, darling. And we're sorry. Tell that to Maxine too._ " With that she hung up.

Soon somebody knocked on the door again. Ronald opened the door. In front of the nurse's office were Kate, Max, Dana and Christine.

"Ron. I… We…" Max started, with eyes pricking down her tears.

"It's OK, girls. Just come here." Max hugged Ronald and buried her face into his chest, sobbing. "Shhh. Just let it out, Max."

"I'm so sorry, Ron." Max sobbed out.

"It's not your fault, Max. It's not your fault. Shhhh." Ronald comforted Max.

"How is she?" Christine asked worried after Max calmed down.

"Under medication and resting."

"Can we…" Dana asked with worry and pity in her face.

"Sure." Ronald nodded.

Christine, Kate and Dana came to Abby on the stretcher while Ronald was trying to comfort Max. Abby slowly woke up and sobbed quietly, unaware of her surroundings. "No… Chloe… no…"

"Poor girl. She does not deserve that."

"I know." Kate nodded as she started to pray for Abby.

" _Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going._ " Kate cited _John 14:2_ as she fondled Abby's hair.

All of the girls stayed by Abby's side while comforting her while Max welcomed Ronald's embrace as he hugged her behind her back.

Ronald asked for a few days leave in the school for him and Abby so they could mourn Chloe in peace.

* * *

On Tuesday he heard from the school and Abby read in the newspapers that Nathan had confessed to drugging Kate Marsh during the Vortex Club Party and other girl students among which was supposed to be even Cassie Masters and abducting them to the photo studio under Prescott's barn where did the art teacher Mark Jefferson photograph them and overdosing and accidentally killing Rachel Amber. Jefferson had been arrested the day following Chloe's murder and Ronald's blood boiled that he trusted him and that Jefferson did all the stuff right under their noses.

 _You son of a bitch. I trusted you. We trusted you._ Jefferson was lucky Ronald wasn't at school because he'd beat the hell out of him right on sight.

But the following article in the newspapers surprised both Abby and Ronald.

" _Local singer and former victim of an attempted murder a hero._ " Ronald saw a photograph of his old friend and Abby's former boyfriend, Ian Marks. He helped the police take down a nephew of a dangerous mobster and a loan shark, Tobias Brown, Jack Brown, who was arrested for an attempt at murder, drug dealing and extortion among other charges.

Abby was shocked by what kind of trouble did the man she once loved got into during the past three years as she got another flashback of being kidnapped by Jack Brown.

Abby broke down again as the panic and fear from that day took over and Ronald came to her, comforting her, not realizing that she was slowly remembering things that had never happened and assuming she was going through another PTSD. She realized that if she hadn't alienated herself from Chloe, she might never have needed Rachel and she might have still lived.

Abby had enough of Blackwell Academy for a while and following the scandal, in which was the popular teacher and son of Prescott's family which funded the Academy, involved, all the classes were for the following week cancelled. The memories of things that had never happened were slowly coming into Abby's memory increasingly in the meantime.

Abby went to her dorm to pack her personal things, wanting to stay at home because the school had become a reminder of pain, loss and suffering.

As she was about to leave, Victoria approached her. In her eyes was regret, pity and… honest concern.

"Look, Abby, I…" Victoria paused for a moment, unsure if Abby would listen to her and of what to say. "I'm sorry about… your friend. And… about Nathan. I… I can't believe he… and Mark… I mean, Mr. Jefferson…"

"I… I know… And Chloe…" Abby said, gasping out, while breaking down again. Victoria hugged Abby while feeling awkward.

"I…" Victoria shed a tear. "I'm sorry for all that shit I threw at you, Christine and Cassie. I really am."

Abby had never thought it would be possible but she started to bury her face into Victoria's shoulder as Victoria patted her by her back while Abby sobbed again. "Just let it out, Abby. Just let it out."

Christine looked outside her and Abby's room and was surprised to see Victoria comforting her. She awkwardly approached them both and did her best comforting her best friend while trying to stay calm near the Blackwell Queen Bitch who she hated to the core. Victoria did her best trying to be friendly to Abby and Christine and apologize for tearing them and Cassie down. Soon enough Max went out and joined them too.

* * *

Meanwhile Cassie returned back to Arcadia Bay following the news about Nathan's arrest and Chloe's death.

In the meantime Ronald was comforting both David and Joyce.

As the following week was passing by, Abby with Ronald and Max were there for each other and for Joyce and David, with Chloe's funeral coming near. And Abby's memories about the events she, Ronald, Christine and Cassie together with Chloe and Max and Ian were coming back in her dreams slowly.

When the day of the funeral came, parents of Abby and Ronald had arrived and Max's parents had come too, together with David, Joyce, Principal Wells, Christine and Cassie, Dana, Frank and his dog Pompidou, Warren, Dana, Kate, Justin, Trevor and Victoria and other Blackwell students among the attendees as well as Abby's former boyfriend, Ian and Ronald's friend from juvie, Shane.

As the priest finished his speech and everyone said their piece about Chloe, the twin sisters came to Abby, laying their hands on her shoulder and saying their condolences. Ian came later and hugged her from behind.

"I'm not leaving you ever again, honey. I… I'm sorry I hadn't come earlier. I had my own problems to deal with…"

Abby was partly aware of what Ian's problems were and while she remembered what did Ian drag her and her brother into, she couldn't hold it against the man she once loved. That she still loves.

"It doesn't matter anymore, Ian." Abby said, holding his hand. "What matters is that you're back here with me." Abby hugged Ian and let out tears as he comforted her. When she finally got a hold of herself, she let Ian go. "Can you… can you please give me some space? I… I wanna say something to her."

Ian nodded in understanding and he left as Max joined Abby while a blue butterfly landed on Chloe's coffin.

Abby laid her hand on the coffin as she looked at Max, with new understanding. "I'm sorry you had to do that, Max."

"What do you mean?" Max could not even look at her childhood friend, almost as close to her as Chloe was.

"Max. I… I didn't know how to say this before…" Abby started. "but… I remember."

Max looked at Abby surprised. "I remember everything. The car park, the junkyard, sneaking into Blackwell… everything… and I still cannot believe we went through all this…" Abby laughed.

Max let out a short chuckle. "Yeah. It is all ' _hella_ ' unbelievable as she would say."

"Yeah. _Hella_ unbelievable. At first I thought Chloe had to hate us all for feeling abandoned."

Max looked at the blue butterfly on the coffin. "I think Chloe is still watching us. And she'd be glad that everyone turned out OK."

Abby looked up to the sky. "Wherever she is… I hope that she is happy with Rachel. And that she'd be happy for us if she'd see us."

* * *

 _ **Three and a half years later**_

Abby and Ian were watching TV with their daughter while Ronald and Max were cleaning dishes in the kitchen. When Abby looked at the clock, she turned off the TV. Christine, Cassie, Kate, Victoria, Dana and Warren thanked the Powell family for the dinner as they hugged Abby and Ian and their daughter with Max and Ronald when they were about to leave.

"OK. I think it's getting late, honey. C'mon, it's time to go to bed."

"But I wanna watch the film to the end."

Max came up when she saw Abby's daughter arguing with her mother. "Chloe Rachel Powell, if you want to hear another story, you will listen to your mother now." She chuckled.

"Yay!" Chloe clapped her hands in joy. "A bedtime story, Auntie Max!"

"It cannot be a 'bedtime story' if you're not in bed, Chloe!" Abby laughed.

"OK." Chloe nodded politely. "I love Auntie Max's story."

Abby took her daughter to her room and laid a blanket gently on her and caressed her by her cheek. Soon enough Max came with a book full of old photos.

"So what story do you want to hear, Chloe?"

"Tell me about " _The Strange Life of the Friends of the Arcadia Bay_ "!" Chloe said overjoyed.

"Again?" Abby laughed. "How many times did you hear the story? Don't you think Aunt Max wants to tell anoth…"

"It's OK, Abby." Max raised her hand on Abby.

Max then opened the book in which were old photos of Max, the Powell siblings and Chloe when they were kids and of the week that had actually never happened.

" _Once upon a time, there was a city called Arcadia Bay, in which lived four friends. A brother and a sister, Ronald and Abby and their friends, Chloe and Max. It all started one day at school when Max rescued Chloe from an evil man trying to kill her and then she unknowingly pulled herself and her friends into an unbelievable adventure, where they had to solve many mysteries and save their friends from insane, evil monsters…_ "

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _So this is the end of my fanfiction novel of the game **Life is Strange** which I called **Our Lives are Strange**. I hope you guys enjoyed and please leave comments in reviews so I'd know whether you liked it or not._

 _I drew my inspiration from **Charmed (TV Series)** , **The Invisible (2007 film)** , **Just Like Heaven (2005 film)** , reading about psychics and premonitions and from the fact that one of my friend suffers from PTSD after being a victim of an attempted sexual assault and being in a car crash too and currently has twin daughters with her boyfriend._

 _If you are curious about continuation, on my profile website on you may also find a sequel to this fanfiction novel, which I called **Our Lives are Strange: Requiem**._

 _Here is link to the story (_ s/12220082/1/Our-Lives-Are-Strange-Requiem _) if you are interested and I hope you will also enjoy the sequel as much as this story._

 _With regards_

 ** _Bl4ckHunter_**


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